Past
by Carrie6
Summary: S/V Takes place after 'Salvation' only Vaughn really isn't sick. Vaughn has something hidden in his past. Chapter 15 is up and it has a lot of S/V. Thanks so much for the reviews!! keep them coming!
1. Chapter One

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Okay, new series. I've got some good ideas for this one and hopefully I can actually finish a story this time, we'll see. Please R&R  
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
Sydney Bristow paced in a cold, dark corner of an abandoned warehouse. Each step echoed throughout the empty space, reminding her just how alone she was. He was never late. She always arrived after him. Maybe she was early. In her anticipation to see him, plus the added benefit of an empty house, she had come directly after his call. He probably figured it would take her a while to get there. At this thought, she stopped pacing, opting instead for sitting on one of the many crates strewn about the warehouse.  
  
Sydney was glad to have this time. The only time that was simply about her was her time with Vaughn. Here, in this warehouse, or even at the pier or in the bloodmobile, everything was focused on her, and she felt like she was Michael Vaughn's entire universe. He was the only one that she could truly talk to. Even though Will was willing to talk to her, she felt guilty putting yet another burden on him. Vaughn seemed like he really wanted to hear what she had to say, not like he was obligated to. He went above and beyond the call over and over again for her, without question. He wasn't even a field agent, and he went on missions with her. She knew that they didn't exactly follow agent-handler protocol, but when she was with him, it didn't matter. She didn't care about rules, about the consequences, or about all the other, more personal reasons, that they were simply not meant to be together.  
  
She had never been so scared for someone else in her life than when he was held back for further testing because his tests were abnormal. All she kept thinking was that she was going to lose another person she loved. And this time, he would never even know that she loved him. She had loved Danny, deeply, and she would have been truly happy marrying him and growing old together. But what she felt for Vaughn was almost incomparable. She never knew that she could trust someone so completely. She never thought she would be the type of person to allow her life to be completely dependent on someone else. Her feelings for him ran so deep, she didn't know how she could function if he weren't around. It would be like half of her was missing.  
  
She had never been so relieved when his results had come back normal.  
  
She was so lost in her thoughts that it took her a minute to hear the footsteps coming towards her. She stood up, and prepared herself to see him.  
  
He walked into their little caged area in, of course, a suit. She hated that suit. Of course she had never seen someone look so amazing in a suit, but it was like it represented how professional their relationship should be. Although she hated meeting in public where they could not meet each other's eyes, she liked seeing him in other attire besides business wear. She would never forget how amazingly sexy he looked in Taipei with his leather coat, nor the tingle she got when he pushed away a predator.  
  
He stood in front of her for a moment. They had been having a lot of moments lately. Not necessarily significant things that had happened, but just times when they had nothing to say, but only looked into each other's eyes.  
  
"Hi." He said finally.  
  
"Hi." She replied.  
  
"I got stuck at the office right after I called you. Have you been waiting long?" He asked, truly concerned with such a mundane thing.  
  
"Not too long. I was starting to thing you'd forgotten about me." She joked, but really fearing that someday he wouldn't show up.  
  
"Never." He replied, smiling that amazing smile that she saw far too infrequently.  
  
"So what's this about?" she asked, although she already knew.  
  
"You know what this is about. Somehow, your mother is back in LA in CIA custody, and your father is roaming around, free as a bird." He said. And although his words seemed light, his tone was not.  
  
"Okay." She said, looking down and taking a deep breath, preparing for her defense. "You have to understand that I couldn't let my father go to jail, and I couldn't let my mother be killed, when there is still so much we need from her." She paused.  
  
Vaughn took this opportunity to jump in. "So you kidnapped a congressmen and convinced him to free your parents." He said, seeming pleased with himself.  
  
Sydney looked up in surprise. "How did you.?"  
  
"I guess I just know you too well." Vaughn sighed, internally thinking that he would never be able to know her well enough. "So what did you tell him?"  
  
"That my dad and I knew of a senator who was selling secrets to the Alliance and that I my mother and father where both needed to flush out the senator." Sydney said softly, hoping he wouldn't be disappointed.  
  
He sighed and smiled a little, wondering how the hell they were going to get out of this.  
  
"And before you ask, no I don't know what I was thinking, and no, I don't know what I'm going to do." Sydney said preemptively.  
  
"Right. Okay, I'll think on this, you do the same. This is going to take some imagination. As long as no one finds out, we should be fine."  
  
Sydney nodded. "Is that all?"  
  
"Yeah, yeah that's it. Oh, actually, we think that Sloane will probably be going on another little blackmail visit, so just a heads up, we'll have to get there first."  
  
"Thanks. Any ideas on who it'll be?" Sydney asked, already knowing the answer. Vaughn just looked at her, not needing to say anything.  
  
"Right. We don't know, but my mother will." Sydney said, looking down at her feet and tapping her heel against the floor.  
  
"You don't have to talk to her. We can wait, and Sloane will probably tell your father something about it." Vaughn suggested, knowing that she wouldn't accept this.  
  
"No, this is one of the reasons I didn't want her to die. She can help us. And as long as she's here, we have to take advantage of it."  
  
Vaughn nodded. "Okay, come by anytime, you know the drill."  
  
Sydney nodded and started to walk away, when Vaughn's voice stopped her.  
  
"So, um, how is Francie's restaurant coming along?" he asked. He knew it was a random question, but he wanted to know about her life.  
  
Sydney stopped walked a step closer. "It's going really well. The opening was a big hit, and there are always a ton of people in there when I go." She smiled, loving that he cared about her life.  
  
"Good." He returned her smile. "That's great. And Will?" he cringed inside.  
  
Sydney's smile widened. "He's doing a lot better. He really appreciates you helping him out."  
  
"No problem." He paused. "So I'll contact you, or wait to hear from you."  
  
"Okay. Bye."  
  
Vaughn followed her form with his eyes as she walked out of the warehouse. When he saw the door slide back into place, he sighed and collapsed onto a crate.  
  
He didn't know how much more he could take of this. Lately, they had become so much more comfortable with each other, but there was still so much they didn't know. Sydney knew virtually nothing about his past, or present for that matter, and he had to really delve deep to get anything out of her.  
  
He knew that he had never cared for anyone this deeply before, and that no matter what, he would always be there for her. She had saved his life before, and he knew that she would do it again.  
  
His time with her had been one of the best things to happen to him in three years. For three years, he'd had a desk job and hated it. Finally, he got an agent, and what was better was that she was beautiful, intelligent, witty, and quite possibly the love of his life. He worried about her constantly whether it was when she was on missions, and even when she was at home.  
  
One thing that he really loved about working with Sydney was that he got to accompany her on missions. Not only did he live for the action, but he felt like he could be there to protect her, a job he trusted no one but himself to do. 


	2. Chapter Two

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: this chapter is really short, but they'll get longer  
  
CHAPTER TWO  
  
Vaughn sat at his desk in the Joint Task Force office, trying to think of a plausible way for her to get out of her situation with the senator, and simultaneously waiting for her arrival. He wasn't sure which one was harder.  
  
"Agent Bristow has been cleared for entry." He turned around to see an agent.  
  
"Thank you." Vaughn said simply, getting up to meet Sydney.  
  
He saw her walking in towards him. When she spotted him, she smiled, and he gratefully returned it.  
  
"Hey." She said, taking a deep breath.  
  
"Hey. You ready?" he asked, trying to keep their conversation very business like, especially after several agents had seen them hug the week before.  
  
"Yeah." She replied, knowing that they couldn't really talk. "I'll see you when I get back." She took another deep breath and headed down the hallway to where she would see her mother.  
  
She hated how flustered and nervous she became when in the presence of her mother. She had no control over it.  
  
She went through one set of doors, and then another, finally getting to her mother's cell.  
  
She stood at the window for a few moments, waiting for her mother to acknowledge her.  
  
Irina was standing by the window, and was very aware of her daughter's presence. She slowly looked over, then sauntered to where Sydney was standing.  
  
"Glad to see your back." Sydney said formally.  
  
Irina nodded. "I have you to thank for that." She replied.  
  
Sydney did her best to look unfazed by this comment.  
  
"Why did you do it?" Irina asked  
  
Sydney took a deep breath. "Because you are valuable to the CIA, and although you have done terrible things in your past, you haven't done anything to invalidate your agreement with the CIA, yet." Sydney finished, pleased with her answer.  
  
Irina nodded, and waited for Sydney to speak again.  
  
"Sloane will want to keep expanding SD-6 by taking over your contacts. We need to know who he will go to next so that we can get there first."  
  
Irina nodded once again, and pretended to think. "Francois Cezanne. He has new technology involving satellite controlled missiles."  
  
Sydney nodded, writing the name down on her pad of paper. "Where would we find designs or prototypes?"  
  
"Rhone, France. He has an underground lab that uses club as its cover." Irina offered.  
  
"Anything I should know?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Cezanne is very paranoid. He has a large force of well-trained guards, and security cameras everywhere. He is a difficult target. I'm worried about you." Irina told her.  
  
Inwardly, Sydney was thinking that her mother had no right to be worried, but she managed to stay professional. She finished writing on her pad, and then looked up. "No need." She said sharply, and turned around heading toward the bars.  
  
"I'll never forget what you did for me Sydney." Irina said, just before Sydney left.  
  
Sydney paused for a moment, but decided to continue on.  
  
As she walked into the central workplace, her eyes automatically scanned the room for Vaughn. She spotted him sitting at his desk, staring into space. She couldn't believe that he even looked sexy when he was daydreaming.  
  
She approached his desk, and he seemed to snap out of it. He looked at her with a questioning look on his face. "What did she say?"  
  
"Francios Cezanne. Rhone, France. Apparently he's developing some sort of satellite-controlled missiles. The only thing she could offer me was that he is extremely paranoid, and he uses a night club as his front." Sydney said curtly, still recovering from her visit.  
  
Vaughn sensed that she didn't really want to talk, and didn't press her about the details of her meeting. He made some quick notes and turned to Sydney.  
  
"Okay, great. I'll get some people working on this and let you know." He replied.  
  
Sydney nodded. "I'm exhausted. I'm gonna go." She said, almost feeling guilty for leaving Vaughn.  
  
Vaughn nodded. "Okay, I'll contact you."  
  
Sydney walked away and felt Vaughn's eyes on her the whole way. She desperately wanted to turn around and see if she was right. Despite the fact that she had to go on yet another life threatening mission, she was excited about the fact that she might get to work with Vaughn again. She knew that handlers usually didn't accompany their agents into the field, but Vaughn had been sent with her several times, and it could happen again. She couldn't remember how long it had been since she was actually excited for a mission. 


	3. Chapter Three

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: this chapter is really short too, but the next chapter is the actual mission, and it's really long.  
  
CHAPTER THREE  
  
Sydney received her 'Joey's Pizza' call about half an hour ago. She walked into the warehouse, happy to see Vaughn. She saw him right away, and smiled, only to have her smile fade when Agent Kendall emerged from the shadows.  
  
"Hello Agent Bristow." He said, his voice dripping with disdain.  
  
"Hello." She replied, equally as unfriendly.  
  
"Well, your mother's information has proved to be quite useful." He began. "We've known for sometime about the possibility of plans for remote satellite missiles, but we don't know how far along they are in the process. Despite your mother's warning about Cézanne's paranoia, this mission should be simple. Get in through the club, get into the lab, and take whatever plans and/or prototypes they might have." He paused and looked at Vaughn. "You two leave in 18 hours. Agent Vaughn will fill you in on the details of the mission."  
  
Without so much of a nod, Kendall walked out.  
  
Vaughn looked at Sydney.  
  
"Well, he's a nice guy." Sydney commented sarcastically.  
  
Vaughn chuckled a little bit. "Yeah.Okay, mission stuff. The club should be reasonably easy to get into. Our names, well, our aliases, will be on the list." Vaughn laid some blueprints out on the table. "Once we get into the club, we'll go out this door into the hallway. There are about six security doors between the hallway and the lab, and there's no way we can get there undetected. However, the hallway is lined with empty offices, and this one here," he pointed at the map, "has a large vent that leads right into the lab. We'll take the same way in and out. You'll grab any designs, and I'll take care of surveillance." Vaughn finished.  
  
Sydney nodded. "Sounds good."  
  
"Yeah, it should be fine." Vaughn said confidently, hoping that his plan was okay.  
  
"Can I ask you something?" Sydney asked tentatively.  
  
"Of course." Vaughn replied.  
  
"Not that I mind, but why do they keep sending you on missions with me. I love having you as my partner, but handler's don't usually go into the field do they?" Sydney asked, hoping that Vaughn wouldn't be offended.  
  
He wasn't. He knew this had been coming for a while. "Yeah, I don't know, I guess they figure that I'll try to go anyway, so they might as well send me. I like working in the field, and I like working with you." He replied, smiling.  
  
Sydney nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're coming with me."  
  
Vaughn looked up at her and was completely awestruck by her beauty. Her smile seemed to radiate off of her and onto him, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss her in that moment.  
  
But the moment passed, and they had to return to reality.  
  
"I guess I'll see you in Rhone." Sydney said.  
  
"Yeah, see you there." 


	4. Chapter Four

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: I don't speak French, I got it off of an automatic translator online, so I'm sorry if it's weird. It's not really crucial to the plot though, so I figure it doesn't really matter if the grammar's right. Thanks so much for your reviews.I really appreciate any corrections you can make too, I hate it when people post things with errors, so any corrections you have I'll be sure to make! Thanks!  
  
CHAPTER FOUR  
  
Sydney and Vaughn arrived at their hotel in Rhone right on time. They had finalized all of their plans on the way over, and they would leave for the club in two hours. They checked in, and headed up to their rooms, playing their parts as two friends on vacation and discussing plans to go to a nice dinner that evening.  
  
"That sounds great." Sydney said smiling. "I'll meet you in the lobby at eight."  
  
Vaughn only nodded, and walked into his room.  
  
He surveyed the room. It was nice, he had to admit. He walked over to the bed and dropped his bag on the ground. He sighed and sank down onto the bed. He had two hours before he had to meet Sydney. He decided to check out the TV and minibar, before taking a shower.  
  
In her room, Sydney was already starting to get ready. It always took her a while to dress for missions, especially formal ones, but she wanted to look really good tonight. She knew that she could never have Vaughn, but for some reason, she wanted to impress him. She wanted him to want her, as much as she wanted him.  
  
Eight o'clock came, and Vaughn was waiting in the lobby. He leaned against a table with a large pot of flowers on it, and began to toy with the flowers. He was nervous. Sure, he'd been on missions with her before, but he felt like this one was really important. He wanted to impress her. To show her what he could do, that he could perform at her level. He knew that she hadn't meant to insult him when she asked why he kept accompanying her on missions, but he felt like it was a blow it his ego that she questioned it.  
  
He glanced at his watch; it was five after eight. He was looking around the lobby, just taking it all in, when he spotted her. About ten stairs separated the elevators and the lobby, and Sydney was standing at the top. Vaughn's breath caught in his throat when she began to walk towards him. She was smiling, as if she knew how irresistible she was. He obviously looked at her, starting at her feet. Her high heals accentuated the length of her legs, making them look like they went on for miles. Her black dress started a few inches above her knee, relatively modest, but the slits on either side were just a couple inches short of her hip. It fit her like a second skin, hugging every curve, tight enough so that it wouldn't get slip out of place during the mission. The neckline plunged right on the edge of indecency. Her hair was a few shades lighter than usual, and piled on top of her head with some tendrils hanging down. He was utterly speechless as she approached him.  
  
Sydney knew how amazing she looked. It had taken her just over two hours to get ready, and she knew it showed. She loved the feeling of Vaughn's eyes on her, and she felt her temperature rise as she approached him. He looked delicious. She relished every chance she got to see him in normal clothes, and she definitely appreciated this one. He was wearing black pants and a dark green shirt, perfectly complementing his eyes. He was wearing a leather coat; similar to the one he had worn in Taipei. She loved that coat. His hair was more tousled and spiky than usual, giving her an urge to run her hands through it.  
  
She walked up to him and smiled, waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, she jumped in.  
  
"Sorry I'm late." She offered, knowing he wasn't going to say anything being a few minutes late.  
  
Vaughn cleared his throat. "Don't worry about it." He replied. He just looked at her for a moment, drinking her in. "You look.incredible." He complimented.  
  
Sydney smiled. "You don't look so bad yourself." She replied, walking past him. Vaughn enjoyed the view for a moment before following her.  
  
They walked outside and Vaughn handed a ticket to the valet.  
  
"C'est une Jaguar noir." Vaughn told the valet.  
  
"C'est une belle voiture pour un homme jeune comme vous." The valet commented.  
  
"Et je considère que je mérite une belle voiture." Vaughn told him.  
  
The valet left to get the car. Sydney smiled.  
  
"Your French is really good." She commented.  
  
"Well it should be." Vaughn replied  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I was born in France. I lived here until I was eight." He responded.  
  
Sydney looked surprised. "I never knew that." Sydney said.  
  
Vaughn looked at her and said softly, "There are a lot of things you don't know about me."  
  
Sydney smiled, not wanting Vaughn no know how his words and tone affected her.  
  
Thankfully, the valet pulled up in the car and opened the doors for them to get in.  
  
The ride to the club was short, and Vaughn parked the car, rather than valet it, in case they had to make a quick exit.  
  
They had no trouble getting in. They made there way through the crowd, and to the door that would lead them into the hallway. The door was in the very back of the club, and Vaughn spotted a security camera next to it before the camera spotted him. He grabbed a pen out of his pocket, aimed it towards the camera and pushed the top down. This device knocked out surveillance equipment within a two-meter radius. He replaced the pen in his pocket and continued. He looped his arm through Sydney's and muttered under his breath "cameras disabled."  
  
She faintly nodded, and proceeded to the door. Vaughn took out the pen again and aimed it through a crack in the door. He clicked the pen and nodded at Sydney. She had no trouble picking the lock discreetly, and they were soon in the hallway.  
  
They located the door of the office they would enter through and to their surprise the door was open. They slipped inside and closed the door.  
  
"Over here." Vaughn motioned for Sydney to come to him. "Here, help me with this." Vaughn told her, referring to a file cabinet. When they had moved the cabinet in place under the vent, Vaughn jumped up on it, pulled a screwdriver out of his coat pocket and began to unscrew the vent. About thirty seconds later, he was able to slide the vent over and hoist himself inside. He looked around and mentally went through the map in his head. When he determined which way they should go he looked back down at Sydney.  
  
"Okay." He said, offering her his hand. She took his hand, and with surprising ease, he lifted her into the vent.  
  
"Thanks," she told him. She really wanted to drop everything and focus on how good he smelled, but she forced herself to concentrate on the mission.  
  
"Okay, the surveillance room should be down this way, and the lab is the other way." He told her. "Tell me when you are in position, and I'll disable the cameras. You'll only have about three minutes."  
  
"Okay. See you soon." She smiled and began to crawl down the vent towards the lab.  
  
A few minutes later, Vaughn heard Sydney through his com link. "I'm ready."  
  
"Okay, I'll let you know when you can go."  
  
Vaughn was in the vent above the surveillance room and could see down into it that there were two men monitoring the screens. On Sydney's signal, he dropped down into the room. He took the men by surprise, quickly knocking them out, and moved towards the main switchboard. He pulled a device out of his coat and hooked it up to the control panel.  
  
"On three." Vaughn said to Sydney.  
  
"One, Two, three." Vaughn blew triggered the device and all of the video screens went to static. Simultaneously, Sydney dropped into the lab. There was only one man working in there, and she quickly disabled him.  
  
"Okay, I'm in. I'm going for the designs." Sydney said.  
  
Vaughn packed up his stuff and climbed back into the vent, and began crawling back to where they began.  
  
Sydney was frantically looking through the lab for anything that could be considered designs for a satellite. The lab was huge. It had about 40 stations, and it was going to take her forever too look through them all.  
  
"Vaughn. I need assistance. I'm not going to have enough time. The lab is too big." Sydney said, frantically looking from station to station.  
  
"I'm on my way." Vaughn said, moving as quickly as he could through the vent. He came to the place where the vent was kicked in and quickly jumped down into the lab.  
  
"Only about a minute left." He told Sydney.  
  
They both began looking through designs and models in the lab, neither one finding anything.  
  
Suddenly, guards burst through the door, just as Sydney shouted, "I think I found something." She began rifling through papers and folders in the station, trying to sort it out.  
  
Vaughn was closest to the door and the two guards both went to him, not seeing Sydney who was in the very back of the lab.  
  
The first guard came at Vaughn, gun raised, but before he even had a chance to use it, Vaughn kicked it out of his hand and pushed him over. The guard was temporarily thrown off balance, and Vaughn used the opportunity to take the gun from the second guard's hand. He grabbed the man by the wrist and twisted him around, allowing him to take the gun.  
  
Meanwhile, Sydney had found the plans and a small prototype. She was about to help Vaughn, when she saw that he had it all under control. She watched him as he fought, marveling at how at-ease he seemed. He actually seemed to enjoy it.  
  
The first guard had regained his composure and charged Vaughn. Vaughn swung his fist, striking the guard on his face, and knocking him out. The second guard then came at Vaughn, but Vaughn raised the gun, and the guard stopped. Vaughn swung his leg for a roundhouse kick, knocking the guard unconscious.  
  
Sydney remained in the back of the lab, watching him in wonder. Where had he learned to fight like that? That was way more than they learned in seminars, or even basic training. Vaughn's moves were practiced, perfected.  
  
Vaughn looked back at Sydney. "We have to get out of here. There are probably more guards on the way." He said, slightly out of breath.  
  
Sydney nodded and stuffed the papers and prototype in her bag and began walking towards the vent.  
  
Not having time to rearrange any furniture to step onto, Vaughn jumped up and grabbed the edges of the vent, pulling himself inside it.  
  
Sydney put her bag around her shoulder and grabbed Vaughn's hand, which he was holding out of the vent for her to grab. He lifted her into the vent, and they began to crawl towards the office where they had started. Behind them, they heard several guards enter the lab.  
  
A minute later, they were in the office. Sydney got out of the vent first and headed to the door listening to see if there was any commotion outside. Luckily there were no guards present, and they easily went back into the club.  
  
They pushed through the crowd once more until they got to the front entrance. They heard guards shouting and running around the back of the building.  
  
Sydney and Vaughn walked quickly, but inconspicuously towards the car.  
  
Once in the car and on their way, Sydney looked over at Vaughn.  
  
Sensing her eyes on him, he questioned, "What?"  
  
"You know what." She spat back. "Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?"  
  
Vaughn was taken aback by her abruptness, but he had expected it. "I went trough basic agent training." He answered her, but he knew she wouldn't believe him.  
  
"That's crap. You looked like you had done that a thousand times before. They don't teach you that in basic training." She challenged, not understanding why he was with holding something from her.  
  
"Maybe the CIA training program is more extensive than SD-6's." he offered, not quite succeeding at making a joke.  
  
"Why are you lying to me? Why won't you just tell me? I mean, you were really good back there, and you know it. What aren't you telling me? Why aren't you a field agent?" Sydney questioned. She was shouting by now and her eyes were boring into him.  
  
"I was!" Vaughn burst out.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I was a field agent," he said more softly.  
  
"Oh." Sydney said, not really knowing what to do next. "What happened?"  
  
"I got injured, and the CIA decided that I was more of a liability than an asset." Vaughn sighed, not wanting to tell her any more than that.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sydney asked softly.  
  
"You never asked." Vaughn answered, as if it was the most logical thing in the world that he with held this from her because she'd never asked.  
  
Sydney looked away. There was so much more that she wanted to ask him, but she could tell that he wasn't going to tell her anything else.  
  
The rest of the ride back to the hotel was spent in silence. Once they arrived, they both went to their rooms, only saying "goodnight." 


	5. Chapter Five

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Okay, Vaughn confession time. I changed something in Chapter One too. Instead of him sitting at a desk for four years, he's only been there for three. Let me know if you like it!! Thanks for all the reviews!!!  
  
CHAPTER FIVE  
  
The ride to the airport was silent. Sydney's plane left first, and Vaughn saw her off, wished her a safe flight, but offered nothing more. His confession to her had made everything tense and left many things unsaid.  
  
Sydney's time on the plane gave her an opportunity to think. She just didn't understand Vaughn. She didn't understand why he hadn't told her about his past. She wanted to know so badly what had happened to him. What could have been so bad that he had become a liability? What could have happened to make him give up the field for a desk when it was so obvious how much he loved it? Lately they had gotten so close, she felt like they were really starting to know each other, and then he sprung this on her, and now it felt like she barely knew him. There was so much that she wanted to know about him. Were there any other huge secrets in his past?  
  
Sydney's thoughts were driving her insane, and making her tired. She decided to sleep for the remainder of the flight, and worry about Vaughn when she got back to LA.  
  
She walked into her house and, luckily, no one was there. It was late, she was jetlagged, and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. She unpacked, changed, and crawled into bed. Tomorrow was Saturday and she could sleep in. Despite her worries about Vaughn, she was able to fall asleep quickly.  
  
The next morning, Sydney was woken up abruptly and annoyingly by the shrill ring of the phone. It had obviously been ringing for a while because she heard the slam of the phone from the other room and Francie groaned, then yelled "Who the hell orders pizza on Saturday morning.  
  
Great. Sydney thought. Just great. Why did he have to call so early? Very slowly, Sydney stretched, then threw the covers off of her and swung her legs off the bed. She took a deep breath and then stood up to go take a shower.  
  
Once out of the shower, she slid on a pair of jeans and a sweater and headed to the kitchen. She started to make coffee, but gave up in the middle and decided the she would just buy some on the way. She scribbled a note for Francie and walked out the door.  
  
Vaughn was waiting at the warehouse when she arrived, and the first thing that she thought when she walked up to him, was that he was wearing a suit. Back to the suits, she thought. It had been so refreshing to see him in regular clothes for their whole trip.  
  
"Hi." She said. "Sorry I'm late, I picked up some coffee on the way." She said, raising her cup.  
  
"It's fine." He said somberly. "Sorry I called you here so early, but I have to go into work today and I thought that you'd want to hear this." Vaughn started.  
  
"The prototype, and the plans that you got from the lab were a huge step. The CIA had no idea how advanced the plans were for this device, tech was working on it all night, and this thing.well, it's unbelievable." Vaughn said, grinning a little. He went on. "What you got, was basically the nucleus of the satellite. This thing can do anything, and by the looks of it, it's taken years to go from the plans to where they are right now. This thing can actually target people from space and send a missile right to them. The technology is something that we've never seen before. It's remarkable." Vaughn said.  
  
"Well, the CIA has it now." Sydney said, taking a sip of her coffee. She was glad that it had gone so well, but she had a lot of things on her mind.  
  
"Thanks to you." Vaughn said, smiling.  
  
"Are you kidding? I barely did anything. You were the one who pulled out all the super-spy moves at the last minute." Sydney exclaimed. Vaughn's face fell. "I'm sorry," Sydney said, "I shouldn't have said anything."  
  
"No, don't be. Look, about that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I probably should have." Vaughn said apologetically.  
  
"Why didn't you?" Sydney asked softly. "And don't say it's because I never asked, because that's not the type of thing that you ask."  
  
Vaughn smiled a little. "I don't know really. Its just not something that I like to talk about." Vaughn replied, taking a seat on a stool.  
  
"Why? What happened that you're not telling me?" Sydney asked, pleading with him. She took a seat adjacent to him, trying to look him in the eyes.  
  
Vaughn shook his head. "Why do you want to know so badly?" He asked her.  
  
"Because I want to understand. I want to know what made you the man you are today. I want to know why you gave up something that you obviously loved." Sydney pleaded.  
  
Vaughn looked at her. "Fine." He said. "I told you that I was a field agent."  
  
Sydney nodded.  
  
"Four years ago, I was sent to Ukraine to uncover a mob that was supposedly selling weapons to terrorists of the US. My mission was to infiltrate the mob, so I applied for a job as a security detailer for Yuri Osip, the man suspected to be the head of the mob."  
  
Vaughn paused and looked at Sydney. She was looking right at him, all of her attention focused on him.  
  
"It took six months for me to be fully trusted by these people, meaning that I wasn't able to go anywhere without being followed for six months. My mission couldn't start for six months." Vaughn clarified. "Around this time, Yuri's daughter, Kathryn, Katie, showed up." Sydney's eyes perked up, wondering where this story was going. "Osip had had an affair with an American woman who had come to the Ukraine on business, and she got pregnant. Katie was born and raised in the US, and decided that she wanted to meet her father, so she came to the Ukraine. Long story short, Katie found out some things that she wasn't supposed to, and Osip wouldn't let her leave. She was a prisoner there." Vaughn looked at Sydney, the look in his eyes telling her just how serious and dangerous the situation was. "Osip assigned me to be the guard to watch her." Vaughn paused, and Sydney could tell that he was reliving something that was very painful for him. "Katie and I became close, we.we fell in love." Vaughn said nostalgically. "God I loved her." Vaughn said, looking down at the floor.  
  
"What happened?" Sydney asked, not really sure if she wanted to know now.  
  
Vaughn snapped out of his trance. "She became dangerous, at least Osip thought so. She wanted to leave, but he wouldn't let her. She threatened him. Told him that if he didn't let her go, she would find a way out and uncover his whole operation. By this time, I knew everything about Osip and his 'business.' We were just waiting for the right time, when we could catch him in the act, to shut down his operation. I had told Katie who I was, and what I was doing there. She had pretty much figured out on her own that her father was a bad guy." Vaughn smiled at this. "She was determined to leave, and she wanted me to come with her. I was going to do it too. But then Yuri found out. I still don't know how. They killed her. Right then, and I couldn't stop them. They were going to kill me too, but they decided that my deception was much bigger than Katie's, so they would torture me first. For nine days, I was held in the basement of Osip's estate, tortured everyday. I don't even remember the last couple days. The doctor's said I probably slipped into some sort of coma. Luckily, on the tenth day, a CIA team caught Osip in a deal and stormed the house at dawn. I was brought back to the US, hospitalized, and a few weeks later, I returned to work." Vaughn paused and looked up at Sydney. She had tears in her eyes. Actually, by now they were rolling down her face. She wanted to hug him so badly, but she wanted him to finish.  
  
"What," her voice cracked, she tried again, "What did you do then?" she asked.  
  
"I thought that I could handle it. That I could just go back to work, go back to missions, and everything would be like it was before." Vaughn paused and looked Sydney right in the eyes. "It wasn't. Everything I did drudged up painful memories. I couldn't do it. Every punch and kick I delivered reminded me of what I went through. I couldn't do it. I quit. I still wanted to stay in the CIA. I wanted to serve my country, just not in the same way. So for three years now, I've had a desk job." Vaughn finished. He was fine. Sydney couldn't see how he'd kept his composure so well. "That's it." He said, smiling at her, trying to make he see that it was okay. That he had dealt with this, and it was a long time ago.  
  
"Vaughn." Sydney trailed off, trying to wipe away her tears. "I am so sorry." She said, a fresh onslaught of tears coming to her eyes.  
  
"Hey," Vaughn said, reaching over to her and embracing her. "Shhh. Why are you sorry. You didn't do anything." Sydney pulled back.  
  
"How can you be so nonchalant about this?" she asked, almost angry that he wasn't more upset.  
  
"It was a long time ago. I've made my peace with it and moved on. I'm fine now." Vaughn reassured her.  
  
"Really?" she asked, not sure if he was just saying it for her benefit.  
  
"Really. And telling you this helped me too. I try not to think about, but telling you made me realize just how much has changed since then, and just how much I've moved on." Vaughn smiled at her.  
  
"Good." Sydney smiled, her tears drying. "I should probably go." She said, standing.  
  
"Yeah, probably." Vaughn said, standing with her.  
  
She started to walk out, but stopped turning around. She didn't say anything though.  
  
"What?" Vaughn asked her.  
  
She started to say something, but stopped. "Never mind." She said, turned to walk away again.  
  
"What is it?" Vaughn asked her again.  
  
She turned to face him. "I was just wondering, if you're all better now, why aren't you back in the field?" Sydney asked.  
  
Vaughn didn't say anything for a moment. Just as he was about too, Sydney interrupted him.  
  
"Never mind. I'm sure you have you're reasons." Sydney said, and walked away quickly.  
  
Vaughn remained in the warehouse for a while longer, digesting all that had just happened. He was surprised at himself at how easy it was to tell Sydney everything. He was also pleased, because he felt like he was really better. He really had moved on, and it felt great. He thought about Sydney's question. Why wasn't he back in the field? He missed it, badly. Every mission that he had gone on with Sydney had been fine. They had been more than fine, he had really loved it. He felt like he did when he first started. Then he realized what the real reason was.  
  
Sydney.  
  
I hope you guys liked it. Tell me if you think it's too mushy, or too dramatic. I'm going away for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to post something before I left. I'm going to write over the holiday though, so I should have something when I get back. 


	6. Chapter Six

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Sorry it's been so long...I've had a block of sorts. Read and review!!  
  
CHAPTER SIX  
  
Three weeks had past since the night of Vaughn's confession. Things had continued as usual, no traumas, no breakthroughs. Sydney had only been sent on two missions, so she and Vaughn had not been meeting very often. Although things had been relatively calm for Sydney, Vaughn's life had been hectic and strenuous.  
  
In a small room, with a rubber mat on the floor, Vaughn fought off an opponent. He swung his right fist, but it was blocked. He grabbed the wrist that had restrained his hand and twisted it around, causing the intruder to lower to the ground. Vaughn backed off, allowing his opponent to rise and attack again. The man ran at him, but Vaughn crouched and ducked under the attackers arm, elbowing him in the back, then kicking his feet from underneath him, sending the attacker to the ground. Vaughn gently put his foot on the man's back, holding him in place.  
  
"I think we're done for today." The man said.  
  
Vaughn smiled. The man rolled over and Vaughn offered him his hand and helped him up.  
  
"Jesus Mike. Are you trying to kill me?" The man said, shaking his head.  
  
Vaughn smiled again. "What can I say Jeff, I guess I've got a lot of pent up energy." Vaughn grabbed a towel and sat in a chair on the edge of the room. He picked up a towel and handed it to Jeff.  
  
"I guess three years at a desk will do that to you. But still, man, I've never known someone to still fight that hard at the end of training." Jeff laughed.  
  
"Yeah, but this is my second time around. I know all your tricks." Vaughn laughed with him.  
  
"I talked to Devlin about you." Jeff said.  
  
"Yeah? What'd you say?" Vaughn asked.  
  
"I told him you were ready, and that my recommendation was that you be put into active duty immediately." Jeff told him.  
  
"Thanks man, I really appreciate that." Vaughn said sincerely.  
  
"No problem. You earned it." Jeff smiled.  
  
Jeff glanced at his watch. "Wow, I can't believe it's already six. I gotta go. I've gotta date." He said, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Six?" Vaughn stood up. "I'm supposed to meet Sydney in ten minutes." He said, gathering his things.  
  
"In rush hour? Good luck." Jeff laughed.  
  
"Thanks again Jeff." Vaughn said as he ran out the door.  
  
Vaughn went straight to his car and by driving severely over the speed limit, managed to make it to the warehouse in twenty minutes.  
  
He ran in the door and to the back of the warehouse where their cage was. He was greeted by the sight of Sydney, sitting in a chair, looking very bored.  
  
She heard him open the door to the cage, and stood up to meet him.  
  
"Hey." He said. "I'm sorry I'm late. I lost track of time." He told her, knowing that his excuse was very lame.  
  
"No, it's fine." She said. She looked him up and down. "Where were you?" she asked him, noticing his clothes.  
  
Vaughn looked down at himself. He was wearing his black warm up pants and a t-shirt, not exactly office attire.  
  
"Oh." He began. "Yeah. I was working out, and I realized I was late, so I didn't have time to change."  
  
"Oh." Was all that Sydney could manage? Over the past few weeks, Sydney had noticed that Vaughn had been filling out his suits a little better. At first, she thought she was crazy, but now, seeing him in a tight t-shirt, she realized that she had been right. She could see the well-defined muscles in his arms and chest clearly through his shirt.  
  
Sydney's gaze was making Vaughn feel very awkward, so he decided just to start in on mission details.  
  
"Okay. Well, your counter mission is simple. All we want is a copy of the files. So use this, you've used it before," Vaughn handed her a flat object that looked like a business card, "and place it on top of the device that SD-6 gives you so that we'll get all the same information." Vaughn finished.  
  
"That's it?" Sydney asked.  
  
Vaughn debated for a moment as to whether or not he should tell her. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something."  
  
"Okay." Sydney said warily, and sat down again.  
  
"Remember, a while ago, you asked me why I wasn't in the field now if I was all better?" Vaughn asked her.  
  
Sydney nodded.  
  
"Well, the answer to that question is you." He told her.  
  
"What?" Sydney asked, confused.  
  
"It's complicated." Vaughn sighed. "The reason that I'm all better is because I met you, but I'm not in the field because.I don't want to leave you."  
  
Sydney was totally shocked. "Oh." She said. She felt stupid for being so inarticulate, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know what to say.  
  
Vaughn felt that she was still confused, so he elaborated. "When I left the Ukraine, I never thought that I would be able to function again. I thought that my life was just destroyed. But then I met you, and I realized that my life could light up again, and that I could get past what ever had happened. And now that I know this, I'm just not sure that I'm ready to leave you."  
  
Sydney was touched, but she knew what she had to say. "Vaughn, you can't stay for me. I can see tell that you love being in action, and I can't let you stay because of me." Sydney said, feeling tears beginning to form behind her eyes.  
  
Vaughn nodded. "I know." He said. "That's why I went to Devlin, and asked to begin re-training for active duty." Vaughn told her, looking down at the floor. "I finished training today." He said, looking up and meeting her eyes.  
  
Sydney understood what he meant and was filled with sadness. "So is this our last meeting?" she asked, hating that she sounded so desperate.  
  
"No!" Vaughn said, a little too forcefully. "You can still call me whenever you want, about anything."  
  
Sydney nodded. "So what happens now?"  
  
"I'll probably be sent on a few trial missions, just to make sure that I can do it. Then, I'll be put into the field on a regular basis." Vaughn told her. "And I'll request that you get a good replacement. No more Lamberts." Vaughn joked.  
  
Sydney smiled a little. "I should go." She said, afraid that if she stayed any longer, she would start to cry. She stepped towards him and embraced him.  
  
Vaughn wrapped his arms around her back and held her close to him, hating that this seemed so final.  
  
"I'm going to miss you so much." She said, feeling tears roll down her cheeks.  
  
"Me too." Vaughn said. "Be careful out there."  
  
"You too." Sydney replied. She pulled back and looked at him. She felt as if she'd never see him again. She leaned up and brushed a soft kiss over his lips. She leaned back and looked into his eyes, seeing the surprise in them, but also an intense desire. She pulled out of his arms, smiled slightly, and walked away, leaving Vaughn completely baffled.  
  
All he wanted to do right then was run after her and kiss her senseless, promising never to leave. But he couldn't. He couldn't believe that he might never see her again. Every time she went on a mission, he thought this, but this time, it was different. This time, he was leaving.  
  
Sydney left the warehouse and got into her car. She had so much swimming through her head. So many emotions, so many feelings, but mostly, she felt hurt. She couldn't believe that he had left her. That he had actually left her. When she was hugging him, all she could think was that this was her last chance, and that if she didn't act right at that moment, she would regret it.  
  
It felt so right kissing him, however brief it was, and it physically pained her to know that she may never be able to do it again. 


	7. Chapter Seven

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Read and review please. I really want any constructive comments as well. If there's something that doesn't make sense (even in past chapters) please let me know, or if there's wording that doesn't make sense. Please email me: Ghanygirl1@aol.com Thanks.Enjoy!  
  
CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
Vaughn walked into Devlin's office, not really sure what to expect.  
  
"You wanted to see me sir?" He asked.  
  
"Agent Vaughn. Come in." Devlin waved him into his office.  
  
"Jeff Richards came to see me yesterday." He said, waiting for Vaughn's reaction. He only nodded. "He told me that you are ready to go back into the field. Physically at least."  
  
Vaughn had known this was coming. He had recused himself so abruptly from active duty that Devlin was now questioning his mental state.  
  
"I'm just wondering if you are really ready to go back." Devlin told him. "Since I'm not fully qualified to assess your emotional state, I'm recommending that you talk to Dr. Barnett, and I will make my decision based on her evaluation."  
  
"Okay." Vaughn nodded, not wanting to see Barnett, but knowing that this was the only way he was going to pass.  
  
"If you're not busy now, she can see you." Devlin said.  
  
"Thank you." Vaughn stood and walked out the door. He got on the elevator and went down to Barnett's office, knocking on the door lightly before going in.  
  
"Ah. Mr. Vaughn. I was expecting you. How have you been?" Dr. Barnett asked, smiling.  
  
"Good. I've been really good." Vaughn reassured her.  
  
"Please, take a seat." Dr. Barnett motioned towards the couch.  
  
"Thank you." Vaughn said.  
  
"Sydney was in here a while ago, very concerned about you when you were in Taipei." She commented.  
  
Vaughn was somewhat surprised that Sydney had talked to Barnett, but didn't say anything.  
  
"She assured me, though, that you two had a very professional relationship, and I had nothing to worry about." Dr. Barnett smiled.  
  
Vaughn thought back to the kiss the night before, and immediately felt guilty as he muttered, "You don't."  
  
"Good." She replied, and smiled again. "Devlin tells me that you are interested in being a field agent." She started.  
  
"Yes, that's right." Vaughn replied.  
  
"You were in the field before?" She asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But this ended badly." She paused. "Tell me about it."  
  
"I was exposed on a long term assignment and tortured before returning to the US." Vaughn said briefly.  
  
"Yes, I know that, it was in your file. But I need to know what else happened. This was a traumatic mission and I need to know what happened that made you leave active duty. If it was your capture and torture, I want specifics." Barnett said, looking smug and waiting for an answer.  
  
"I was tortured, severely, for nine days. If you really want specifics, most of the time, they'd start at dawn. They'd tie me up to a wall and kick, or punch, or hit me with something until they got tired. I took so many hits to the head that doctors were surprised I didn't have brain damage. By the time I got back to the US, I was bleeding internally. After they'd beat me, they would try and think of creative ways to try and make me suffer as much as possible without killing me. They got a real kick out of cutting me in certain places, and making me think that they were going to take out my bones. They'd stop when the sun went down, unless they were drunk, in which case they would continue until they passed out. A lot of what they did to me I don't remember." Vaughn finished, pleased with himself that he wasn't getting emotional.  
  
"And you seem okay talking about this." Dr. Barnett commented.  
  
"It was along time ago. I've made my peace with it. One of the reasons I want to go back into the field is to stop people like that from making others go through what I did." Vaughn said.  
  
Dr. Barnett nodded. "Does Sydney know about this?"  
  
Vaughn was confused. "I don't see why that is relevant." Vaughn challenged.  
  
"I was just wondering if she knew about your past." She said coolly.  
  
"Yes. She does. Not the specifics about my torture, but the rest of it, yes." Vaughn replied.  
  
"How did that come up?" she asked.  
  
Vaughn was getting frustrated with her questions, but cooperated. "She asked."  
  
"She asked you if you were a field agent?"  
  
"No. We went on a mission together, and I was put in a position where I had to fight. Sydney questioned why I knew how to fight so well if I was not a field agent. When I told her that I was a field agent, she wanted to know the rest of the story." Vaughn said calmly.  
  
"And you told her."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do you think it's strange that you would share something so personal with your agent?" Dr. Barnett asked.  
  
"No. The relationship that Sydney and I have requires a lot of trust, and if she asks me something, I am going to tell her to help keep that trust." Vaughn replied, trying to be firm.  
  
Dr. Barnett simply nodded.  
  
"Okay. Well, Devlin was mostly concerned that you had not gotten over your mission in the Ukraine, and that you were still caught up in what happened there. In my opinion, you have settled all of your issues on that subject and are in fine condition to return to work as an operations officer." Dr. Barnett smiled.  
  
Vaughn smiled as well. "Thank you." He told her, standing up.  
  
"Good luck, Agent Vaughn." She said as he walked out the door.  
  
Vaughn felt completely relieved that he had passes Barnett's little examination. All he wanted right now was to share his joy with Sydney, but he knew that couldn't happen. First, he wasn't her handler anymore, and second, it would just be too awkward. Being one step further to the field meant being one step further away from her.  
  
The next day, Vaughn met with Devlin, and was given two missions. If these were completed, then he would be moved officially into operations agent status. He also used his meeting with Devlin to suggest that Weiss, being almost fully recovered, take his place as Sydney's handler. Devlin seemed to accept this suggestion.  
  
Vaughn couldn't wait for his missions to start. Although they were relatively simple, he still felt that rush that he always got before a mission. He was anxious to see what would happen next. 


	8. Chapter Eight

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Please Read and Review.don't hesitate to email me: Ghanygirl1@aol.com  
  
CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
It had only been a week since Sydney had last seen him, but she missed him already. She knew that he was out there somewhere, on a mission, and there was nothing she could do to help him. Now she knew how he felt when she was on a mission. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't concentrate, all she wanted to do was find out if he was okay; if he was alive.  
  
Weiss had been assigned as her new handler, and she was grateful that Vaughn had made sure that she didn't get stuck with some creep, but it wasn't the same. Weiss was nice, but very professional. He seemed like he would do his job well, but not go to extreme measures to help her, like Vaughn would, and had.  
  
She was waiting in the warehouse for him. Just this simple act irritated her. Vaughn usually always arrived before her. She looked at her watch and realized that she was early. Was she just looking for excuses to be unhappy? She didn't know.  
  
She heard the door slide open and she rose to her feet. She heard Weiss's footsteps and was saddened that they did not sound like Vaughn's. He stepped into the cage and she was not surrounded by the aroma of soap and vanilla and.Vaughn. She missed that smell.  
  
"Hi." He said as he approached her.  
  
"Hi." She said politely.  
  
"Okay. New mission." He began. "We want to see this party, be able to know who is there and assess the situation. So, you will wear this." He handed her a small American flag pin. "It has a camera so we will be able to look at the crowd."  
  
"What are you looking for?" Sydney questioned.  
  
"This guy has some very high-profile connections, and we just want to see who they are, and how close they are to him." Weiss explained.  
  
"Okay." Sydney said, examining the pin.  
  
"As usual, we just want a copy of whatever you get for SD-6. You are supposed to get files off of the computer by transferring them onto a disk, so instead of putting the disk straight into the computer, put it into this, and then plug this into the USB port. Its completely universal, so you shouldn't have any trouble." Weiss explained, handing her a small, flat object. "There is a chip in this that will get all the information that you put on the disk." Weiss said, smiling proudly at the technology.  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
Weiss looked at her. She looked sad, like her spirit was broken. He could pretty much guess that she missed Vaughn, but he felt obligated to fulfill Vaughn's orders and 'Take good care of her.'  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah. I'm fine." Sydney said, smiling for his benefit.  
  
"Okay. Any questions about the mission?" He asked.  
  
"No, everything seems fine." She said, smiling again. It was a small smile though, not even close to reaching her eyes.  
  
"Okay. See you when you get back then." Weiss said, and began to walk out.  
  
"Actually," Sydney said before Weiss had reached the door. He stopped and turned. "I was wondering how Vaughn was doing. He said that he would probably be sent on some trial missions. I was just wondering if they went okay." Sydney said, trying to sound just curious.  
  
Weiss paused for a moment before speaking. "He's doing well. He went on one mission and it went great. He has another one tomorrow, and if that goes well, they're going to officially move him into field agent position."  
  
Sydney nodded. She was overall relieved, but a small part of her wanted him to do badly so that he would come back to her. "Okay." She said anyway, "Thanks."  
  
She began to walk out, leaving Weiss in the cage.  
  
He felt badly for her. He knew that Vaughn was attached to her, but he just never realized how mutual it was. She seemed so desperate, just trying to find out anything about Vaughn's life. She genuinely seemed to care about him, and as Vaughn's friend, he was truly sorry that they couldn't be together.  
  
Weiss walked out of the warehouse and to his car. He didn't really feel like going back to work, but it was only eleven, so he couldn't exactly go home. He went back to the office and puttered around for a bit, eventually finding himself walking into Vaughn's office.  
  
Vaughn was sitting at his computer, probably doing some research for his mission tomorrow.  
  
"Hey." Weiss said as he walked into the office.  
  
Vaughn looked up and smiled. "Hey."  
  
"What are you doing?" Weiss questioned.  
  
"Just checking some last minute details for tomorrow." Vaughn explained, turning back to his computer. He really wanted to ask about Sydney, but he knew how Weiss felt about their 'relationship' so he decided not to.  
  
Weiss was silent for a while, wondering if Vaughn was ever going to ask about Sydney. Even though things were better between them then they had been a few months ago, things were still a little tense when Sydney came up. Weiss had taken it as a good sign that Vaughn recommended him to take his place as Sydney's handler, but he still wasn't sure if Vaughn was holding onto hostility from when Weiss yelled at him for being to close to her. He decided to take pity on his friend.  
  
"I met with Sydney today." He said.  
  
At this, Vaughn looked up. "How'd it go?" he asked, trying not to seem to eager. He really wanted to ask how she was, but he didn't want to push it.  
  
"Well. She's leaving for a mission today, so we had our first official briefing."  
  
"What's the mission?" Vaughn asked, trying to seem nonchalant.  
  
"It's easy, she'll be fine." Weiss reassured him, knowing the deeper meaning behind his question.  
  
Vaughn just nodded, not sure how much Eric was willing to tell him.  
  
"Look, Mike, I know that things have been weird between us, especially things concerning Sydney, but your not her handler anymore, so things don't have to be like that." Weiss said, rather inarticulately.  
  
"What do you mean?" Vaughn questioned, not really understanding what Weiss was trying to say.  
  
"I mean that before, when I was giving you a hard time about Sydney, I was only seeing one half of it. It didn't realize that she was just as attached to you as you were to her." Weiss attempted to explain.  
  
Vaughn still looked confused.  
  
Weiss went on. "She just looks so sad. And she asked me about you. And it wasn't just a polite inquiry. She really wanted to know, she was almost desperate trying to get any information about what you were doing."  
  
Vaughn was completely taken aback. He never expected Weiss to be so accepting of this. He knew that his feelings for Sydney were not completely one sided, especially after their kiss the other night, but he never thought that she'd be willing to basically reveal her feelings to Weiss just to find out about him.  
  
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. For before. I just didn't really understand." Weiss said, moving to leave the office.  
  
"Eric," Vaughn stopped him, "Thanks." He said simply.  
  
Weiss nodded and walked out.  
  
Vaughn couldn't believe it. He was almost tempted to give everything up and go back to being her handler. He knew that he couldn't, he had worked too hard, but a part of him just wanted to go back to her. He trusted Weiss, and was glad that things between them were better, but the only one he trusted to protect Sydney's life was himself, and he couldn't do that anymore. 


	9. Chapter Nine

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: This is short.sorry, the next one will be longer. Please read and review, and don't hesitate to email me with any comments or suggestions: Ghanygirl1@aol.com  
  
CHAPTER NINE  
  
Vaughn was back in the office and everything was going great. His second mission had gone extremely well and he was sure that Devlin was going to officially make him an officer. He was on his way to Devlin's office now.  
  
He knocked on the door and Devlin ushered him in.  
  
"Come in, Agent Vaughn." He said, smiling.  
  
Vaughn walked in and sat in the chair adjacent to Devlin's, on the other side of his desk.  
  
"Congratulations. Both of your trial missions went exceptionally well." Devlin said. "You must be very pleased."  
  
Vaughn nodded. "Yes, I am."  
  
"Now, I know that you chose to return to the field under the impression that you would be going on missions, as you had before, but we have something different in mind." Devlin began.  
  
Vaughn's heart dropped into his stomach. He couldn't believe that they weren't going to allow him to be an agent again. However, he remained quiet and listened to what Devlin had to say.  
  
"We think that it would be very beneficial to the CIA if you remained working on the SD-6 case." Devlin said.  
  
Vaughn was furious. He had worked to hard for this and wasn't going to let him get away with it. "With all due respect sir, I believe that I have done everything that it takes to be an operations officer and more, and I think I deserve more than a consulting position." His voice had become just loud enough to be in between forceful and yelling.  
  
Devlin looked amused. "Yes, I agree." He said, waiting for Vaughn's reaction. "That's why you'd be going into SD-6 as a double." He explained.  
  
"What?" Vaughn said, not sure if he had heard right.  
  
"We want you to go in as a double agent." He repeated, then elaborated. "We believe that you are the perfect choice for a third agent inside SD-6. From handling the case for the past year you know all the inner workings there, and you've proved that you work very well with both Agent Bristows. It is very fortunate that you decided to put yourself back into the field." Devlin finished.  
  
Vaughn was speechless. He hadn't expected this.  
  
"Now, we believe that you are capable of doing this, but do you? I need to know if you are really ready for such a big assignment."  
  
Vaughn couldn't believe it. This is what he had wanted. He would be able to be a field agent, and be with Sydney. He snapped out of his reverie to answer Devlin's question. "Yes. Absolutely." He said enthusiastically.  
  
"You were one of the best agents that we had. Your decision to leave was very unfortunate. I know that there were deeper issues from your last mission that I do not know about, and do not care to. All I want to know is if they are completely resolved."  
  
"Yes, they are." Vaughn assured him.  
  
"Good." Devlin said.  
  
"There are a lot of details that need to be worked out, so you will probably not go in for a few weeks. During this time, you will continue training and memorize your new bio." Devlin explained.  
  
"Okay." Vaughn said.  
  
"We feel that the easiest way to get you in is for Jack to recruit you." Vaughn nodded. "With Sloane's uneasy standing in the alliance, we think that he will want to increase efforts to build up SD-6 and will be willing to accept a new, young recruit." Devlin rationalized. "Since you've accepted, we'll get working on creating a new bio for you and Jack will start working on Sloane. You will keep training. We want you very prepared for this. This is your first long term assignment in three years and it is crucial to destroying SD-6." Devlin emphasized.  
  
"Yes, sir." Vaughn agreed.  
  
"Okay, we'll meet again to discuss details and terms and rules and such. You'll probably want to inform Ms. Bristow of this." Devlin said knowingly.  
  
Vaughn nodded and rose. "Yes, thank you, sir."  
  
Devlin nodded and turned back to paperwork on his desk.  
  
Vaughn was ecstatic. He couldn't wait to tell Sydney and see her reaction. They would finally really be working together. He finally felt like he was actually doing something that would help bring an end to SD-6. 


	10. Chapter Ten

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: No real note.just read and review. If you have any suggestions or comments, don't hesitate to email me: Ghanygirl1@aol.com  
  
CHAPTER TEN  
  
Sydney walked in the front door at 6:30, after seven hours on a plane, running two miles and being chased by guards, another seven hours on a plane, and an incredibly annoying taxi driver who kept suggesting that they go to a bar together. All she wanted to do was take a bath and get in bed.  
  
She looked around the house and, luckily, no one was in sight. Francie and will were still at the restaurant, so she had the whole place to herself. She moved into her bedroom and was walking into the bathroom when the phone rang. She debated for a moment whether or not she wanted to answer it. Eventually, she walked towards the phone and picked it up.  
  
"Hello?" she said irritably.  
  
"Joey's Pizza?"  
  
"Wrong number." She said as she slammed down the phone. She really did not want to meet Weiss now. Especially since it was a half hour drive there, in rush hour, to talk to him for thirty seconds about something she could have told him on her way to work tomorrow. However, she knew that she had to go.  
  
Without even changing, she walked back out the door. The drive to the warehouse took her forty minutes in practically standstill traffic. By the time she got there she was extremely annoyed.  
  
She walked into the warehouse so quickly, saying "Couldn't this have waited until the morning?" that she didn't see who was waiting for her.  
  
Vaughn was standing off to the side of the cage, and it took a minute for Sydney to see him. When she finally did, she was speechless.  
  
"Hi." He said.  
  
"Hi." She replied. She hadn't thought she would ever see him again, and here he was. She didn't know what he was doing here, and for a moment, she thought that maybe he was her handler again.  
  
"What are you doing here? Are you my handler again?" she questioned, letting a little too much hope slip out through her voice.  
  
"No. You'll have your official debriefing with Weiss tomorrow." Vaughn clarified.  
  
"Oh." Sydney's face fell.  
  
"I actually have something that I wanted to tell you." Vaughn said, smiling slightly.  
  
"What is it?" she asked.  
  
"I met with Devlin today, and he officially reinstated me as an operations officer." Vaughn said happily.  
  
Sydney was not so happy. "Wow." She said. Even after everything, she never really believed that he would officially leave her. She just kept thinking that he would come back. Still, she was supportive. "I mean, congratulations." She offered. She stepped forward and gave him a brief, but firm hug, and then backed away again.  
  
"Thanks." Vaughn said. "I just wanted you to be the first to know." He said sincerely.  
  
This touched Sydney, but overall, she was still sad.  
  
"There's more." Vaughn said.  
  
Sydney looked up at him, intrigued.  
  
"The CIA thinks that with my knowledge of SD-6, and my ability to work with you, that I would be a valuable double agent in SD-6." Vaughn finished.  
  
Sydney was blown away. "What?" she asked, not sure she heard right.  
  
"I'm going to be a double in SD-6. I'm going to be working with you." He repeated.  
  
"Oh my God." She said, completely stunned. She looked up at him and threw her arms around him.  
  
"So you're happy about this?" he asked tentatively.  
  
She pulled back from him and smiled. "Very happy." She said.  
  
"Good."  
  
"Seriously Vaughn, I didn't know how I was going to do this without you. I've felt so lost the past couple weeks." She hugged him again. "Thank you." She said softly.  
  
"Your welcome." Vaughn said into her hair.  
  
Sydney pulled back once more and sat down. "So what happens now?" she questioned.  
  
"Your dad is going to convince Sloane that SD-6 could use another agent, and he is going to recruit me. It'll take a few weeks, but in the mean time, I'm going to keep training. There are a lot more details to work out like what I'm going to do when I get there, what we'll be doing. We'll probably have a whole new approach now. Unfortunately, we'll probably have someone like Kendall as our handler." Vaughn said.  
  
"But we'll be together. Two against one." Sydney joked, but completely serious about the 'together' part.  
  
"Yeah." Vaughn said.  
  
Sydney looked pensive, her smile from earlier had faded and Vaughn knew that she wanted to say something.  
  
"What is it?" he asked her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You look like you have something to say." Vaughn told her.  
  
Sydney smiled. "Are you sure?" she asked.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Are you sure you want to do this? Voluntarily? I didn't ask for this life. I never would. As much as I want you to come, I don't want you to get hurt, to end up like me." Sydney said sadly, worry lacing her words.  
  
Vaughn frowned. "What do you mean like you?" he moved to kneel before her, and leveled his face with hers. "If I could be even half the person you are, I would consider myself so lucky." He told her.  
  
Sydney smiled, knowing that he was sincere. "This is something I have to do. You don't have to." She tried to explain, looking down at her feet.  
  
"Yes, I do." Vaughn challenged.  
  
Sydney looked up at him, his eyes piercing hers with the emotion they held.  
  
"By working with you, helping you destroy SD-6, I've become part of this. I need to see SD-6 fall, and by being in there, everyday, with you, I'll get to be a part of that. I get to really help. But most of all, I need to see you live a normal life." Vaughn explained to her, looking right in her eyes.  
  
There faces were only inches apart, and without even thinking, Sydney leaned forward and captured his lips with hers. She pulled back moment later and looked into his eyes again. Now, caring and desire replaced concern and determination.  
  
Vaughn was startled. Once again, she had kissed him. But this time was different. The last one was basically a good-bye kiss that was barely even a kiss. This one was real. She knew when she did it that it wouldn't be the last time she saw him. Without really comprehending what had happened, Vaughn leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. She opened herself to the kiss and hooked her arms around his neck. His hands rested on her hips. He pulled back and looked at her.  
  
"Thank you." She said, wrapping her arms around him more tightly and pulling him into a hug. "Thank you." She repeated.  
  
They remained like that for a while, and finally pulled away and stood.  
  
"When will I see you again?" she asked.  
  
"Probably not for a while, I'm going to be pretty busy getting ready, but maybe I'll come to one of you're briefings. We'll definitely meet before I come in to talk about strategy and stuff."  
  
"Right." She nodded. "I should probably." she trailed off.  
  
"Yeah, me too." He agreed. He walked to the door and opened it for her, allowing her to walk out first. She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
"Bye." He said as she walked away.  
  
She turned around and smiled. "Bye." She replied. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Wow! You guys have been great with the reviews! If you have any suggestions or comments, don't hesitate to email me: Ghanygirl1@aol.com  
  
CHAPTER ELEVEN  
  
Vaughn's head was spinning. The past week had been such a blur, and the last thing that he really remembered was kissing Sydney in the warehouse. The rest of his week had been filled with training, memorizing and strategy briefings.  
  
As he had predicted, Kendall was both he and Sydney's handler. He did not approve of Vaughn going into SD-6, but didn't really have a choice in the matter. The new addition to the SD-6 case was a major contribution. CIA was now taking an entirely new approach to the matter. Instead of using tiny pieces of information that they rarely acquired, CIA was going for full sabotage. They were going to be a lot more aggressive in getting information from the computer system, and with Vaughn working with Sydney, the missions would be significantly easier to infiltrate, and the CIA would get more information and would be given the opportunity to give more fake information to SD-6.  
  
Vaughn was pleased with this, and the fact that he was a major part in it. He would finally be really contributing to Sydney's welfare, and he would always be there to protect her. He didn't really know what was happening between them, but he knew that he liked it.  
  
Sydney, Vaughn, Jack and Kendall had a meeting in an hour to discuss Vaughn's role in SD-6, what he's supposed to do when he gets there, and how Sydney's and Vaughn will work together. If everything went smoothly, Vaughn would be going in two days.  
  
Vaughn was filled with a nervous excitement. He just prayed that everything would go well.  
  
Vaughn was waiting in the conference room when Jack and Sydney arrived, accompanied by Kendall. Vaughn stood to greet them, then sat down at the end of the long table. Sydney sat next to him, Jack next to her, and Kendall sat on the other side of Vaughn.  
  
"Okay, lets get started." Kendall began. "First things first, Vaughn, SD-6 believes that you are a civilian that has been in CIA training and shown remarkable skills. That is why SD-6 wants you." Vaughn nodded. "You've seen and memorized your background information?" Kendall asked.  
  
"Yes." Vaughn replied simply.  
  
"Good." Kendall nodded at Jack.  
  
"I've talked to Sloane, and he is on board with the idea of acquiring a new agent. With his uneasy standing with the alliance, he really wants to step up our efforts." Jack explained. "When you get there, you will go through a session with McCullah. You've been prepped for that?" Jack asked.  
  
"Yes." Vaughn answered.  
  
"Assuming that goes well, Sloane will speak with you, just ask you some basic questions. Most agents go through six months of agent training, but since Sloane is under the impression that we pulled you from your last weeks of CIA training, you'll probably only be sent for about two weeks, tops." Vaughn nodded again.  
  
From here, Kendall picked up. "Okay, so when you get back from training, you will officially be part of the SD-6 team, and be accompanying Agent Bristow on missions." Kendall explained.  
  
"What about Dixon?" Sydney jumped in.  
  
"Dixon is out of his prime. Although he will still go on missions sporadically, he will be primarily in the office." Jack clarified.  
  
"You can't just expect him to accept this. I don't think he will." Sydney argued.  
  
"He has a family he needs to provide for. He hasn't been point on a mission for some time now, and we think that he won't put up a fight." Jack answered sharply.  
  
Sydney simply nodded.  
  
"As I was saying," Kendall continued, "Agent Vaughn will be conducting missions with Agent Bristow." He repeated. "On a case by case basis, we will decide counter missions."  
  
"Now, we don't know how long it will take Sloane to trust you." Jack said. "This is why you have to really impress him, and we won't have any counter missions until you've been with SD-6 for a while." Vaughn nodded.  
  
"What's this new approach we have?" Sydney questioned.  
  
"Well, it incorporates a number of elements." Kendall began. "We are going to be more aggressive in taking information from the SD-6 computer and putting it to good use. We've developed some new technology that will make the leak practically undetectable."  
  
"Practically?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Yes. It is undetectable unless you know the specific program we are using, and since we developed it. We have people working around the clock to make this new technology, so before anyone figures out what it is, we'll have something new." Kendall explained, becoming irritated with Sydney's questions.  
  
Vaughn, on the other hand, was loving how Sydney was getting to Kendall.  
  
"Anyway," Kendall continued, "With the addition of Agent Vaughn, you're missions should go more smoothly. Since you won't have to worry about your partner seeing you make a switch or whatever counter mission you may have, the CIA will get more information, and fewer missions will fail." Kendall looked pointedly at Sydney.  
  
Vaughn could see that Sydney was about to snap, so he jumped in. "Also, we'll have more time to create better replicas to buy us time at SD-6."  
  
Kendall looked at Vaughn, angry that he had stolen his line. Vaughn looked over at Sydney and could see her trying to suppress a smile.  
  
"There are several other plans that we're still perfecting, so we'll see if we can put any of them to use in the future." Kendall concluded. "Tentatively, Vaughn goes in the day after tomorrow. Jack, talk to Sloane, make sure that works."  
  
Kendall abruptly left, not bothering to say goodbye. The remaining three stood.  
  
"Above all, Sloane needs to like you." Jack said. "Sydney and I will try to put in a good word for you as often as we can, but we can't do everything. He can't have any suspicions. Be friendly, confident, genuine to gain Sloane's trust, and we can start faster."  
  
Vaughn nodded. "Thanks."  
  
Jack nodded back at him. He looked at Sydney and then left, leaving Sydney and Vaughn alone.  
  
"So," Sydney began, "Seems like everything is really coming along."  
  
"Yeah." Vaughn said, feeling very awkward.  
  
Sydney sighed and looked down at her hands, not knowing what to say.  
  
Vaughn hated that they couldn't talk to eachother. If they were going to be working together at SD-6, they had to seem at ease.  
  
"Look, Sydney, I don't really know what's been going on with us lately, but I know that this is a really critical time and it isn't good that we're feeling this awkward." Vaughn told her.  
  
"I know." She replied. "I don't really know what I was thinking when I kissed you." She said, thanking God that there wasn't surveillance in the room. "I'm sorry." She said, looking back at her hands.  
  
"Why?" Vaughn said, worrying that she was regretting it.  
  
"I don't know. I thought you were mad that it happened." She said, looking up at him.  
  
"No, not at all. Why would you think that?" He asked.  
  
"You were talking about how it was a critical time, and how we shouldn't be awkward. I just thought you didn't think it was a good idea." Sydney explained, her eyes returning to her hands.  
  
"I just meant that we should figure this out, whatever it is." Vaughn clarified.  
  
"Oh." Sydney said, not really knowing what she should say next. She waited for him to say something.  
  
Vaughn just looked at her, not sure whether or not he was willing to jump. He decided he was. "I like you Sydney." He said quickly.  
  
She looked up at him, shocked at what he was saying.  
  
"I know that its obvious, and very wrong, but I do. I know that we can never have a normal relationship, especially while SD-6 is still working, but I'm willing to give it a try." Vaughn couldn't look at her anymore; he was too worried that he had just made a huge mistake.  
  
"I like you too." She said softly. "And I'm willing to try too." She said, smiling at him, tears glistening in her eyes.  
  
Vaughn raised his eyes to meet hers. He smiled and took her hands in his. "I just want you to know that whatever happens, I will always be here for you. And I promise you, that you will live a normal life someday." Vaughn said.  
  
Sydney's tears were threatening to spill over. She couldn't speak, so she just nodded. She pulled her hands out of his and hooked them around his neck, pulling him close to her. He kissed her lightly on the side of her head before releasing her.  
  
Her tears had receded somewhat; enough so that she could talk. "So I guess I'll see you in a couple days?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." He said.  
  
Sydney nodded. "Good." She smiled.  
  
She turned slowly and walked towards the door. She turned back to look at him once more before opening the door and walking out.  
  
Vaughn was left alone in the conference room, not really believing that had gone so well. Everything was happening so fast. He and Sydney, SD-6, his life was spinning, but he loved it. He couldn't wait to see what the next day would bring. 


	12. Chapter Twelve

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Sorry it's been so long.please forgive me!! Read and Review!! If you have any comments whatever, don't hesitate to email me: Ghanygirl1@aol.com  
  
CHAPTER TWELVE  
  
This was it. He was finally going in. Today was the day. He was meeting Jack outside SD-6, and they would go in together.  
  
As he approached the building, he glanced at his watch. He was early, but he couldn't help it, he was too anxious. After a few minutes, Jack walked up to him.  
  
"Ready?" he asked, wearing his usual scowl. Vaughn knew that Jack respected him, but he also knew that Jack didn't approve of his 'relationship' with Sydney. In return, Vaughn had the utmost respect for Jack. After all, he had won him a place in SD-6.  
  
"Yes." Vaughn replied professionally.  
  
Jack gave a curt nod and began to walk into the building. He led Jack into the 'executive elevator' that would take them to sub-level six of the building. The elevator doors opened and Vaughn was assaulted with a brilliant white light, followed by an intense infrared heat.  
  
The door opened, and Vaughn looked into SD-6. What he saw surprised him. He hadn't really known what to expect, but he certainly thought it would be more than a dingy office with few stations. He surveyed the place, taking it all in.  
  
They walked a little further into the office, and Sydney came up to greet them. Vaughn's heart leapt at the sight of her, but he managed to contain himself.  
  
"Hi, Dad. Who's this?" she asked politely.  
  
"Michael Vaughn, meet Sydney Bristow." He said. "Mr. Vaughn is a new recruit, and will hopefully be joining us here, at SD-6." He elaborated.  
  
Sydney nodded, and reached to shake Vaughn's hand. "Nice to meet you." She said, smiling.  
  
"You too." He replied. Sydney smiled and walked away to sit at her desk. She wanted to stay with Vaughn, but she knew that might look suspicious.  
  
"Okay, Mr. Vaughn," Jack said, "come with me." Jack began to lead him down a hallway. "We need you to take a mandatory lie-detector test." Jack told him.  
  
"Okay." Vaughn replied. This was the part that he was most nervous about. He knew this system, he had trained for it, and trained others, but McCullah was smart. Vaughn knew that Sydney had passed hers with flying colors, and yet she was still thought to be the mole.  
  
Vaughn continued to follow Jack until they reached another elevator. The got on it and proceeded to go down further. When the doors opened, Vaughn was presented with a dank and dreary hallway. He followed Jack down the hallway, and into a small room. Vaughn looked around the room, noticing the large mirror on the wall, obviously a one way, and a chair that looked rather unappealing, with many wires hanging off of it.  
  
A bald man, sitting a the desk rose to meet them. "Mr. McCullah, this is Mr. Vaughn. He is a new recruit here." Vaughn reached to shake McCullah's hand. McCullah looked at his hand for a moment before taking it.  
  
"Nice to meet you." Vaughn said.  
  
McCullah simply nodded.  
  
"Find me upstairs when you're through." Jack said, leaving the room.  
  
McCullah instructed Vaughn to sit in the chair, and proceeded to place flat, plastic circles with wires coming out of the on Vaughn's head. When he was done, he went over to his desk, sat down, and began typing on his computer. After several moments, he took out a notepad and looked at Vaughn.  
  
"What is your name?" McCullah questioned.  
  
"Michael Vaughn." McCullah glanced at the computer, scribbled something on his pad, and continued.  
  
"What is your profession?"  
  
"I am in training to be an operations officer for the CIA." Another glance and another scribble.  
  
"How did you come across SD-6?"  
  
"In my last weeks of training, Mr. Bristow told me that I had exceptional skills that could be more useful in a covert branch." Vaughn answered steadily.  
  
The questions continued. Vaughn was prepared, for all of them, especially one in particular.  
  
"Are you romantically interested in anyone?" McCullah asked. Vaughn made sure to look startled, knowing that his every reaction, real or fake, was showing up on the computer screen.  
  
After a moment, he answered, "No," but he was concentrating very hard on Sydney, making sure that the test knew he was lying. McCullah looked at his computer and made a note on his pad. The only way that Vaughn knew there was a change in the results displayed on the computer was because McCullah hesitated a fraction of a second before taking his eyes away from the computer. If Vaughn 'lied' on a simple question that wasn't very important, then the rest of the questions would look more truthful.  
  
There were only a few more questions after that, and then McCullah rose, and removed the wires from Vaughn's head.  
  
McCullah began to walk out the door and motioned for Vaughn to follow him. They proceeded to go back into the main office area. He spotted Jack speaking with Sydney at her desk and walked over to them, while McCullah went in the opposite direction, towards Sloane's office.  
  
McCullah approached the office and stood at the door a moment before Sloane waved him in. He took a seat in a chair and was quiet, waiting for Sloane to speak first.  
  
"So?" Sloane asked.  
  
"He's clean." He answered.  
  
"Really?" Sloane mused.  
  
"Very honest. Almost too honest. He answered every question truthfully. Except one." McCullah told him.  
  
"Which one?" Sloane asked.  
  
"Are you romantically interested in anyone?" McCullah told him.  
  
Sloane smiled a bit. "Thank you. Why don't you send him in?" Sloane asked.  
  
McCullah nodded and left the office, heading towards Vaughn.  
  
Vaughn, Jack, and Sydney were still talking at Sydney's desk about mundane things; the weather, sports, restaurants, movies. McCullah approached them and looked at Vaughn.  
  
"Mr. Sloane would like to see you." He told Vaughn. Vaughn nodded, and McCullah walked away. Vaughn looked at Sydney for a very brief moment, seeing in her eyes that she was wishing him good luck, and walked over to Sloane's office.  
  
Sloane waved him into the office before he had even gotten close to the entry way.  
  
Sloane stood as Vaughn walked into the office. "Mr. Vaughn, come in. I'm Arvin Sloane, director of SD-6." Sloane offered his hand, and Vaughn shook it firmly, smiling widely.  
  
"It's wonderful to meet you. Mr. Bristow has told me great things about you and SD-6." Vaughn told him.  
  
Sloane beamed. "Please, take a seat." He motioned for Vaughn to sit, and walked to the other side of the desk to sit in his chair.  
  
"So, Mr. Vaughn, tell me a little bit about yourself." Sloane said.  
  
"Well, I was born in France, where I lived until I was eight. My family moved to California. I went to Stanford, majored in business, graduated with honors. I worked in a small firm doing small business deals, contracts and such for two years, at which time I entered the CIA training program." Vaughn replied, glad that most of the was true.  
  
"Why do you want to be a part of the CIA?" Sloane questioned.  
  
"Above all, I am a patriot. I want to serve and protect my country in any way I can." Vaughn answered truthfully, after all, that is why he joined the CIA in the first place.  
  
"Mr. Bristow tells me that you accelerated through your training unusually quickly." Sloane commented.  
  
"Yes, that's true." Vaughn agreed.  
  
Sloane simply nodded, looking at Vaughn. "Okay. I'm assuming that you would not be here unless you planned to take this job. Is this true?" he asked.  
  
"Yes." Vaughn replied easily.  
  
"Good. I'm going to put you into our training program, but since you were nearly finished with yours, and trade skills seem to come naturally to you, I'm only going to send you for three weeks, instead of six months." Sloane said, writing something down on a piece of paper. "Do you agree to this?"  
  
Vaughn smiled widely, "Yes." He responded.  
  
"Normally, agents would have to go through a much more extensive procedure before they are actually agents. But seeing as you've been hand picked by Jack Bristow, I am waving most of these formalities." Sloane told him. Vaughn nodded. "This also means that you will have to work even harder to prove yourself as an agent since you have less time." Sloane warned.  
  
"Yes, sir." Vaughn replied.  
  
Sloane nodded, jotting down some more notes. "Good. We'll arrange for you to start in the training program tomorrow morning. After three weeks, you'll come back, and we'll discuss your future here." Sloane said, rising out of his chair. Vaughn rose as well.  
  
"Thank you." Vaughn said, reaching to shake Sloane's hand.  
  
Sloane accepted his hand and nodded, "good luck," he said.  
  
Vaughn turned and walked out of the office, towards Sydney's desk, where Jack was obviously waiting for him.  
  
"I start a three-week training session in the morning." Vaughn told them. Sydney smiled widely, truly happy for him.  
  
Jack nodded, and smiled slightly. "Okay. If you come back tomorrow morning with all of your things, you will be transported to the training facility in Sacramento." Jack explained.  
  
Vaughn nodded. "Great. And thanks, Mr. Bristow, for everything." Vaughn said, grateful, but trying mostly to fit his character. Vaughn looked around quickly before departing. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning." He said to Jack. He looked quickly at Sydney, who smiled, before turning and leaving.  
  
He remained very composed until he left the Credit Dauphine building. Once outside, he let out a huge sigh of relief, and smiled, realizing that he actually made it. He was officially going to be a part of the SD-6 team. 


	13. Chapter Thirteen

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere, just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: As usual, Read and Review  
  
CHAPTER THIRTEEN  
  
Sydney had been unusually jittery all evening, and it was starting to make Will nervous. He couldn't read her tonight. She didn't look upset, just very anxious. She was in the kitchen, cooking. She never cooked, and Will knew that she was just trying to distract herself from a larger issue.  
  
He got up off the couch and walked over towards the kitchen. He observed her for a few moments before speaking.  
  
"What's up with you?" he asked her.  
  
"Mm?" she questioned, very concentrated on the cookbook.  
  
"You're making me dizzy. What's wrong." He asked her again.  
  
Sydney looked up at him. "Nothing." She replied honestly.  
  
"Why are you so crazy?" he questioned.  
  
"I'm not crazy, I'm just bored, so I thought I'd cook us a nice dinner." She told him, turning back to her pot of.mush. She frowned at it, then turned off the burner. "Maybe we'll order in?" she suggested sheepishly.  
  
Will looked at her smugly. "Be honest with me, what's going on with you?" Will asked her yet again.  
  
Sydney walked away from him and took a seat on the couch. Will followed suit.  
  
"Vaughn's coming back tomorrow," Sydney admitted.  
  
Will felt that instantaneous pang of jealousy sweep through him, but he recovered quickly. "Oh yeah. He's been in training, right?"  
  
Sydney sensed Will's uneasiness at the subject of Vaughn. That's why she had been trying to distract herself all night. She knew that if she just sat down or something that she would get fidgety and Will would notice something was up. She knew that Will still had feelings for her, and she didn't want to hurt him by talking about Vaughn.  
  
"Yeah. Three weeks." She replied.  
  
Will just nodded, obviously uncomfortable. "You must be excited." Will said, looking down at his hands.  
  
"Yeah, I am." She replied. She knew that she should confront this issue, but she was so excited about seeing Vaughn tomorrow that she didn't want anything to bring her down. "So how 'bout that food?" she said, rising from the couch and making her way towards the phone.  
  
"You like him, don't you?" Came a voice from behind her. Sydney slowly turned around.  
  
"What?" she said.  
  
"It's okay." Will told her, "I think he likes you too." He was looking right at her, and she put her head down. "But you already knew that, didn't you?" he said, looking up at the ceiling and chuckling.  
  
Sydney walked over to him, but before she could say anything, he spoke. "So are you guys, like a couple or something?" Will asked.  
  
Sydney shook her head. "No." she looked at him. "Will, we don't have to talk about this." She told him.  
  
"No, it's okay. I don't mind. I'm your friend, and I want you to be able to tell me whatever you want." He said genuinely.  
  
Sydney squeezed his arm. "Thanks Will." She said, before walking back to the phone.  
  
The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Sydney was still anxious to see Vaughn, but her nerves were calmed by not having to hide her anxiety from Will. It was nice being with Will again. Francie was at the restaurant, and it had been a while since they had hung out, just the two of them, or at all really.  
  
At around one am, Sydney announced that she was going to bed, and Will decided to crash on the sofa. Sydney retreated into her room and lay down on the bed. The past three weeks had been excruciating. It had been the longest period of time that she'd spent away from Vaughn since she'd met him. She still couldn't believe that he was joining SD-6. It was going to be amazing seeing him everyday, especially with their new, heightened relationship. She knew that she wasn't going to get much sleep tonight, but she got into bed anyway, wondering what Vaughn was doing now.  
  
All the way across the city, Michael Vaughn was walking into his apartment. He looked around the place, still not believing that this was actually where he lived. He missed his old apartment, and his dog, which he had given to Weiss, since he wouldn't be able to take care of him. His new apartment was nice, but stark. It still didn't feel like home. He had only lived in it a total of six days, so he figured he just wasn't used to it yet.  
  
He walked over to the sofa and collapsed down on it, exhausted from three weeks of intense physical training. He had to admit, even though he was sore as hell, he was very pleased with the way his body looked. He had really enjoyed training. He was one of the older ones there, but it didn't really matter since he was separated from the group most of the time. When he was with the group, he dominated them all.  
  
More than anything, he couldn't wait to see Sydney tomorrow. He had missed her incredibly during training. All he wanted to do when he saw her tomorrow was hold her and kiss her. But he knew he couldn't do that. He probably wouldn't be able to do that for a while.  
  
The CIA was putting off all counter missions and meetings with Vaughn, and Sydney, until Vaughn was pretty well established at SD-6 and had gone on several successful missions. This was a good plan, but it gave him no opportunities to see Sydney in private. He was looking forward to going on missions with her though. He could be alone with her there, free to do whatever he wanted.  
  
He shook his head, trying to clear out those thoughts. He dragged himself off of the couch and into his bedroom, where he quickly got ready for bed, and fell into it. He set his alarm and laid back, thinking of all the events that tomorrow would bring. He was so tired, and yet so awake. Finally, he began to drift off, thinking of Sydney all the while.  
  
A/N: Hey guys.that's chapter 13.I'm not really sure if I should keep going, I have some ideas, but I'm not really sure if anyone is still reading this.let me know what you think. 


	14. Chapter Fourteen

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Thanks so much for the reviews guys, it means so much to me! I'm going to keep at it, at least for a little while. This is a really long chapter, and I enjoyed writing it. There's more action, and I promise that there's S/V stuff coming up.  
  
CHAPTER FOURTEEN  
  
As predicted, Sydney had gotten very little sleep last night. She kept thinking about Vaughn. Had he missed her as much as she missed him? She hoped so. Walking into the office, she was surprised to see that Vaughn was already there. He was waiting patiently outside of Sloane's office. She desperately wanted to go and talk to him, but she didn't, for fear that people would become suspicious if she was overly nice to him.  
  
Almost as if feeling her eyes on him, he looked up and locked eyes with her. He smiled slightly, politely, before averting his eyes. Sydney was content with this acknowledgement, and took a seat at her desk. A few minutes later, she heard Sloane call Vaughn into his office.  
  
"Mr. Vaughn, come in." Sloane said, smiling at the younger man.  
  
Vaughn nodded and walked into the office and observed as Sloane pushed a button that shut the many doors.  
  
"Sorry to have kept you waiting." Sloane apologized.  
  
"It's no problem." Vaughn assured him.  
  
Sloane was silent for a few moments, simply looking at Vaughn. Vaughn felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but didn't say anything.  
  
Finally, Sloane spoke. "Agent Kessler said that you did outstandingly well in training." He commented.  
  
Vaughn nodded, "Yes, I really enjoyed it." He said.  
  
"Good, good. Well, I'm very pleased to say that I think you will make a valuable addition to our team here." Sloane said, smiling.  
  
Vaughn smiled gratefully. "Thank you, sir. Thank you very much."  
  
"Jack has utmost faith in your abilities, as do I. Because of your special situation, meaning the fact that you've had prior training and that the trade seems to come so naturally to you, we are going to move you ahead a few steps." Sloane said, pausing to gauge Vaughn's reaction. Vaughn nodded, listening intently. "Most people start out as interns, or assistants and then move up slowly. You have already skipped these steps because you have already had training. Our next move is to see how you do in the field. Starting next week, we are going to send you on a series of reconnaissance missions. You will go with our team and observe them, assist them, and most of all learn from them." Sloane said. "Until then, you will get to know how we work around here and familiarize yourself with our people, process and equipment. If these missions go well, we will gradually give you more and more responsibilities in missions. Any questions?"  
  
"No, everything sounds great. I can't wait to get started." Vaughn said enthusiastically, and genuinely.  
  
"Great." Sloane said, then as an afterthought, "Have you met Sydney Bristow?" he asked.  
  
Vaughn didn't really understand the relevance of the question, but he answered anyway. "Yes, I met her the first time I came."  
  
"If you get the chance, spend some time getting to know Sydney. She's a great agent who could teach you a lot. You'll probably be working with her at some point." Sloane said.  
  
"Great." Vaughn said, taking it as a good sign that Sloane wanted him to spend time with Sydney.  
  
Sloane stood, and Vaughn followed suit. "Okay. I'll talk with you again soon, see how things are going. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask." Sloane said, extending his hand to Vaughn.  
  
Vaughn accepted it, "Thank you," he said.  
  
Vaughn walked out of the office and felt a huge wave of relief wash over him. He was finally in. He looked towards Sydney's desk and saw her looking up at him. She could read him perfectly, and knew that it had gone well. Vaughn walked towards her desk.  
  
"Hi," He said extending his hand, "I'm Michael Vaughn. We met a few weeks ago." He said.  
  
"Right," she said, rising and shaking his hand, "I'm Sydney Bristow." She smiled.  
  
"Sloane said that I should come and talk to you. That you're one of the best and I could learn a lot from you." Vaughn said smiling.  
  
"Well, I'm not going to argue with that." Sydney said jokingly. "So you just came from training?" Sydney asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They continued with small talk; where they were from, what he did before he joined SD-6, what colleges they'd gone to, life as a spy. They kept the conversation light, so that to any onlookers, they would look like two people who just met.  
  
The rest of the day was pretty easy. Vaughn made his rounds, meeting everyone in the office. It was strange meeting Dixon, and everyone else that he'd heard so much about from Sydney. These people were good people, who thought that they were working for their country, not against it. Vaughn now really understood what Sydney went through everyday.  
  
The rest of the week was actually pretty slow. Vaughn had pictured his life as a double agent as hectic and exhausting. He guessed that there would be plenty of time for that later. At the end of the week, Sloane told him that he would leave for his first mission on Monday morning, and introduced him to the mission leader.  
  
The mission seemed relatively easy. All they were doing was surveying the house of a 'suspected terrorist' in Moscow and seeing if there was any suspicious activity at a party that the owner was having. The party was apparently a distraction for something else.  
  
The weekend came and went, Vaughn mostly stayed in for lack of other things to do, he couldn't exactly go out with any of his CIA friends. He worked out a few times and went to the track, but really, all he could do was wait. Wait until his mission, wait until he was trusted, wait until they could start doing some damage, wait until he could be with Sydney.  
  
Monday morning finally came. Vaughn met the rest of the team in the basement of SD-6 to get all of their equipment together. When he walked in, Brady, the mission leader whom Vaughn had met last week, greeted him.  
  
"Hey, Vaughn, come on in." He said. Brady was a good guy. He was about Vaughn's age and really friendly. "Meet everyone." He said. Several guys looked up and walked over to Vaughn. "This is Carter, Burns, West, and James." Each one came forward to shake Vaughn's hand."  
  
"You must be this Agent Vaughn we've heard so much about." James commented.  
  
Vaughn was confused, "what?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I talked to Kessler out in Sacramento and he said that you kicked his ass everyday for three weeks." James elaborated.  
  
"Oh, he's just being nice because I set him up with one of the girls in the program." Vaughn said.  
  
"Sure, whatever." James said unbelievingly. "All I know is that I'm staying out of the way of any guy who can kick Kessler's ass, that's for sure." James chuckled and walked back to the equipment tables.  
  
Because they weren't really government sanctioned, they could not bypass national security. They could only bring a minimal amount of arms with them, the rest they would get at their destination. When they were all packed up, they filed into a van that would take them to the airport. Their cover was that they were a group of businessmen going to a conference in Moscow. That was always their cover.  
  
Everything went smoothly in the airport, and on the plane, Vaughn was seated next to James. Even though Vaughn had only known him for a little over an hour, he could tell that James was the horn-dog/trouble maker of the group; an SD-6 Weiss.  
  
A little while after take-off, the flight attendants started coming around with drinks. James elbowed Vaughn to look at a female attendant approaching them. She was young, blond, and very perky. "Check it out." He said, blatantly drooling.  
  
"Can I get you anything?" she said as she came to their row.  
  
"Yeah." James said, "Your phone number would really make this flight more comfortable." He said, giving her his most charming smile.  
  
The woman rolled her eyes. "To drink?" she asked, holding up a coke.  
  
"Aww.you shouldn't be walking around on this plane, it could be dangerous. How 'bout my buddy Vaughn takes over and you come and sit with me?" he suggested. Vaughn couldn't help but be amused.  
  
The attendant gave up on him and looked at Vaughn. "Can I get you anything?" she asked him.  
  
"A coke would be great." Vaughn said. She handed him a cup of ice and a coke. "Thanks." He said.  
  
The woman looked at James one more time as if to say 'last chance' then walked away. James followed her with his eyes until she disappeared into the attendant area. Once she was out of sight, James reached over and grabbed Vaughn's coke off his tray table.  
  
"Hey." Vaughn said.  
  
"I'm thirsty." James replied.  
  
Vaughn grabbed it back. "You missed your chance man." Vaughn told him.  
  
"Don't worry, she'll be back. The ladies never stay away from me for too long." He said, peering down the isle again.  
  
"Whatever." Vaughn replied.  
  
The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful. The only entertainment was James's misguided attempts at flirting with the poor girl. He actually managed to coax a name out of her, but that's about it. Vaughn slept for most of the time.  
  
They landed in Moscow in the early afternoon. As they were walking out of the plane, Sarah, the female attendant came up to James and handed him a napkin with a phone number on it. "Hope you enjoyed the flight." She said before walking away.  
  
James put the number in his pocket and looked at Vaughn. "Told ya." He said.  
  
From the airport, they went to the Moscow facility to get the equipment that they would need for the mission. This mostly consisted of guns, munitions, night vision goggles and other things that they couldn't bring on the plane. By the time they had everything in order it was five o'clock. The house where the party was to be held was about an hour away. They all got in a van with all their gear on and headed to the house. On the way, Brady went over the details of the mission.  
  
It was purely reconnaissance. They would gather information about any suspicious activity and report it back to SD-6. If it was something that had to be acted upon immediately, then they would report back and the mission would be changed. Vaughn's job was to stick with Brady and observe. After all, this was his first field mission.  
  
They arrived at a point near the party when it was dark, and guests were filtering in. They got out of the van quietly and broke off into their different sections. Since there were only six men in total, each man went a separate way except for Brady and Vaughn.  
  
The area was densely wooded, so it would be easy to stay out of sight. Brady and Vaughn crept along behind bushes until they saw a clearing ahead of them. Right beyond the clearing, there was a building that looked like a small storage facility about fifty feet away from where they were. There were two men standing outside of it. They appeared to be just helpers at the party, there to instruct you where the bathroom was it you got lost, but Vaughn knew the difference between glorified waiters and guards.  
  
Vaughn looked over at Brady, who was still surveying the area. Vaughn nudged him slightly and nodded towards the building. Brady nodded. "Stay here." He said. Vaughn nodded and watched as Brady crept along on the perimeter of the clearing, staying in the shadows and in the bushes.  
  
When Brady was about half way there, a third guard ambushed him from behind. Vaughn immediately leapt up, running towards Brady. He could tell by the way the guard moved that he was no ordinary bodyguard, but trained security. Not far from them, Vaughn heard the other two guards shout and begin to run over. Vaughn knew that he had to act fast.  
  
The guard that was attacking Brady was clearly overpowering him. Vaughn grabbed a hold of the guard and pulled him off of Brady. Before the man contemplated what was happening, Vaughn kneed him in the chest, then while he was bent over, elbowed him on the back of his neck, rendering him unconscious. He looked down at Brady and saw that he was bleeding from his shoulder. They guard had a knife. Brady was lying on the ground, but he was conscious and he looked at Vaughn. Vaughn decided that for the moment, Brady was fine, and that he had to concentrate on the other two guards. The guard that had attacked Brady hadn't had a gun, but he couldn't be sure that these two didn't. Sure enough, he saw one of the guards reaching under his jacket for a gun. Before he had a chance to pull it out, Vaughn charged him and punched him in the face, momentarily offsetting him. The second guard was coming up behind him, but Vaughn was ready for him and grabbed his arm from behind him as he was reaching into his coat. Vaughn elbowed the guard in the face, sending him backwards as the other guard approached. Vaughn's arm was still hooked around the second guard's arm, so as the first guard came nearer, Vaughn leaned against the bent-over guard he was attached to and swung his leg around to kick the man in the side of the head. The guard was reeling and fell to the ground, unconscious. Vaughn leaned off of the other guard and spun around to punch him in the face. The guard was frazzled but recovered quickly, moving to punch Vaughn. Vaughn grabbed the offending hand, wrapped his fingers around the wrist and twisting it, sending the man to the ground in pain. Vaughn swung his leg around again, hitting the man on his head and knocking him out.  
  
Vaughn looked around the area to make sure that there were no more guards coming. When he was assured that there weren't, he moved back over to Brady. By this time, Brady was leaning up on his good arm, watching the show.  
  
"You okay?" Vaughn asked.  
  
Brady nodded. "That was pretty impressive." He commented.  
  
"Thanks." Vaughn replied, helping Brady to his feet. Brady groaned and grabbed his shoulder.  
  
"Son of a bitch." He swore, inspecting his shoulder. Vaughn looked at it too.  
  
"It's not too deep." He said, "It'll heal fine." Vaughn said.  
  
Brady nodded in agreement. "There's one thing I've gotta ask you, Vaughn." Vaughn looked at him. "You saw those guys reaching for their guns. You could've had your gun out in a second. Why didn't you just shoot 'em?" Brady asked.  
  
"Didn't want to draw attention. I knew I could take them, and I want to see what's in that warehouse." Vaughn replied. He looked over at the warehouse and started to walk towards it. Brady followed him.  
  
When they got to the door of the warehouse, Brady jiggled the handle, finding it locked. "My right arm's useless. You know how to pick locks?" Brady asked. Vaughn nodded unzipping a side pocket of his jacket and taking two small metal sticks out of it. He stuck them into the lock and swirled them around for a moment before the door clicked open.  
  
"Jesus, Vaughn, is there anything you can't do better than me? It would have taken me at least a minute to do that." Brady said.  
  
Vaughn shrugged. "What can I say, I was a curious child." Brady shook his head and walked through the door. Immediately following the door there was a flight of steps leading into a basement. In the basement there were hundreds of suitcases, piled high. Brady picked one of them up and unzipped it, only to find it empty.  
  
"He's smuggling counterfeit suitcases?" he said, thinking it was a joke.  
  
Vaughn surveyed the situation. "No, it's a diversion. He wants us to think that they're all empty." Vaughn said. He moved around the room picking up suitcases, finding them all empty.  
  
Brady watched him. "I don't know man, I think we just had some bad information on this one." He said. However, Vaughn kept moving. There were tons of shelves, each with dozens of suitcases on them. He moved through the shelves, pushing the suitcases around, waiting to meet resistance from one that had something in it. Brady looked at his watch and was just about to tell Vaughn that they should leave when he heard Vaughn shout.  
  
"Hey. I found something." He said. Brady ran over to him just as Vaughn was opening a suitcase. What Vaughn saw shocked him. He knew immediately what it was, but knew that he shouldn't say anything since Brady thought that this was his first day on the job. "What is it?" Vaughn asked.  
  
Brady peered into the case. "It's a warhead." Brady said. "A nuclear warhead." He repeated, completely stunned. He looked at Vaughn. "Nice work." He said, unable to find more appropriate words. "We need to get this out of here." He said.  
  
Vaughn nodded and continued searching the warehouse for another one. Brady spoke into his com unit. After a short conversation with the base unit describing what they had, he was ordered to retrieve the warhead. He then addressed the team. "All units return to base." He said. "Rendezvous in 5 minutes."  
  
"Did you find any others?" Brady asked. Vaughn shook his head.  
  
"Here," Brady said, walking over to the suitcase, "Help me carry this." He said, grabbing a handle of the suitcase with his good arm.  
  
Together, the men carried the suitcase out of the warehouse. There were no guards when they got to the top of the stairs, but when they got to the clearing, there were only two unconscious guards. They knew that they had to run before he came back with reinforcements.  
  
They got to the van quickly, the last to arrive. As soon as they closed the door, they sped off.  
  
"What happened to you?" One of the men asked, referring to Brady's shoulder.  
  
"Guard stabbed me." Brady replied.  
  
"Is that why we pulled out early?" James asked.  
  
"No," Brady replied. "This is why we pulled out." He said, opening the suitcase.  
  
"Holy shit." James said. "Where the hell did you find that?" he asked.  
  
"Our rookie here found it." Brady said, nodding at Vaughn. "Looks like we've got ourselves a real-life superman." He said. The men looked at Brady, imploring him to elaborate. "Vaughn here was waiting in the bushes when I got ambushed and stabbed. He runs out knocks out the guard attacking me and two others with no weapons. He then proceeds to uncover a warhead in the midst of hundreds of empty suitcases." Brady said. "I swear, I thought he was nuts. It really just looked like a bunch of counterfeit suitcases. I don't know how you figured out that there was more to it." Brady said, knowing that Vaughn wasn't going to say anything.  
  
Vaughn just shrugged. The rest of the way back to the base was quieter. Brady's wound was tended to while he filled in details about the rest of the mission to the curious guys. Although Vaughn liked the admiration he was getting, it was making him uneasy. He wasn't supposed to know these things. This was supposed to be his first field mission, and he was getting worried that the men would start to suspect something if he was too good at this. Vaughn shrugged it off; there was nothing he could do about it now.  
  
Vaughn was thankful that his first mission went well. He was going to make a good impression on Sloane, bringing back a nuclear warhead. He didn't really want Sloane to be in possession of a warhead, but he knew that the only way he was going to do any damage to SD-6 was if he gained their trust. Saving an officer and getting warhead was bound to accelerate his acceptance.  
  
Despite all the issues there were with this mission, it had felt great. That surge of adrenaline that he got when he was fighting was a feeling that he'd missed extremely. He loved that feeling, and relished the fact that from then on, he'd be feeling it a lot more often.  
  
A/N: Whoo. That was a long chapter. Thanks so much for your reviews!! They mean the world to me and keep me going. There's definitely going to be S/V stuff coming up.I just had to establish Vaughn in SD-6. It's going to go more quickly though, I promise! 


	15. Chapter Fifteen

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Thanks soooo much for all the reviews!! They really keep me going. Sorry about the long delay between chapters, but midterms suck ass!!! Hope you like this chapter!! Keep Reviewing!!  
  
CHAPTER FIFTEEN  
  
Vaughn returned to LA the following day, Tuesday, and was immediately ushered into Sloane's office. There, Sloane had showered praise on him about how he was the most promising agent that he'd ever seen. Despite this, Vaughn still had to go on minor field mission until they were positive he could do the job. On Wednesday morning, Vaughn left LA for a lab in Minsk to check on technicians suspected of working against SD-6. This mission consisted of hiding out in bushes and trees for three days only to find out that the techs were completely normal except for the fact that they hadn't seen sunlight in about four years. When Vaughn got back on Sunday night he was still cold. He was glad to be back in LA where it was nice and warm.  
  
So far, his time at SD-6 had been good. Everyone really seemed to like him and Sloane kept on telling him what a great job he'd been doing. He didn't like the fact that they had to take so many steps backwards in order for Vaughn to fit in, but he just kept telling himself that the long-term damage they would do would be worth it.  
  
More than anything, he wanted to talk to Sydney. It was torture being around her all day and not being able to really talk to her. Sure, they had casual conversations, but nothing beyond work related things. Things had been left kind of up in the air between them, and he wasn't really sure how he should act around her if he ever did get to see her in private. He missed talking to her and being involved in her life. She had gone on a mission around the same time that he was away and it killed him that he couldn't brief her for it, or that he couldn't talk her through it. He didn't even know if she was home safely right now, if her mission had gone okay. The only hope that he could cling to was that he would be working with her soon enough.  
  
With that thought, he climbed into his warm bed and quickly drifted off too sleep.  
  
The next morning Vaughn went into Credit Dauphine and felt an immediate rush of relief upon seeing Sydney there. He saw her talking with a colleague and walked over to say good morning.  
  
She smiled as she saw him approaching, but he could tell that something was wrong. Her eyes were sad and gave her away. He wasn't supposed to be able to read her like this so he pretended like he didn't notice.  
  
"Good morning." He said as he approached her.  
  
"Hi, Vaughn." She said. For a while, she had debated on whether or not she should call him Michael at SD-6, but it just didn't sound natural, and after all, she did call Dixon by his last name. "How was your mission?" she asked, but it was half-hearted.  
  
"It was good. Cold, but good." He commented, she smiled a little. "How did yours go?" he asked, knowing that it couldn't have gone well.  
  
Sydney looked down. "Not so well." She said. "Dixon was shot." She said.  
  
"I'm so sorry." Vaughn said genuinely. All he wanted to do was give Sydney a hug and tell her that everything would be okay, but he couldn't.  
  
"He's going to be okay, but he probably won't be able to work in the field anymore. They shot him in his knee." Sydney said. She was really upset, but Vaughn caught on to the deeper meaning of her statement. If Dixon was truly out, then he was in.  
  
Vaughn was about to respond when Sloane called him into his office. "I'll see you later I guess." Vaughn said.  
  
"Yeah." Sydney said as she turned back to her desk.  
  
Vaughn walked into Sloane's office and took a seat in the familiar chair on one side of the large desk; Sloane sat in his chair.  
  
"Mr. Vaughn, welcome back. I'm glad that the mission in Minsk had no surprises." Sloane began.  
  
"Sometimes overcoming the challenge is what makes it all worth it." Vaughn retorted, hoping Sloane would be pleased with his enthusiasm. He was.  
  
"I agree." He replied. "And I'm glad you feel that way because your missions are about to get more challenging." Sloane told him.  
  
"I'm ready for it." Vaughn assured him.  
  
Sloane smiled. "Good." Sloane paused for a moment. "On a mission this weekend, Agent Dixon was injured. He probably won't be able to work in the field ever again."  
  
"I heard that, Agent Bristow told me. At least it was just his knee." Vaughn said.  
  
Sloane looked momentarily surprised, but continued on. "Yes, he's very lucky. However; since he will no longer be able to serve as Agent Bristow's partner, I'd like you to take his place." Sloane said.  
  
"Really?" Vaughn asked him, trying to look surprised.  
  
"Yes. That is if you feel you're up to it." Sloane reminded him.  
  
"Absolutely." Vaughn reassured him.  
  
"This is a very unusual situation. I normally train agents for years before sending them on a real field mission, but I have a feeling about you. I think this is going to be a very good move for you." Sloane said, smiling.  
  
"Thank you, sir." Vaughn said.  
  
Sloane nodded. "As I said before, and even more so now, I think it would be a very good idea for you to get to know Agent Bristow better. You two will be working very closely together and it is important that you trust each other." Sloane said.  
  
"I understand." Vaughn said.  
  
Sloane smiled and got out of his chair, Vaughn did the same.  
  
"Congratulations Agent Vaughn." Sloane said.  
  
"Thank you." Vaughn replied.  
  
Vaughn walked out of Sloane's office and straight over to Sydney's desk. She smiled when she saw him approaching. She raised her eyebrows in question.  
  
"I'm your new partner. I'm officially an agent." Vaughn said excitedly.  
  
Sydney smiled. She wanted to hug him so badly, but she settled for a "Congratulations! That's great Vaughn."  
  
"Sloane said that we should get to know each other better since we'll be working closely, so I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight." Vaughn asked her.  
  
Sydney's eyes widened for a moment, and she was torn on whether or not to accept. She desperately wanted to go on a real date with Vaughn, but it was completely against CIA rules. Ultimately, she decided that they couldn't really get in trouble since Sloane had told them to.  
  
Sydney smiled at Vaughn and replied, "I'd love to."  
  
"Great." Vaughn said smiling. They arranged when and where they would meet and went back to their respective desks.  
  
Sydney couldn't concentrate all day. All she kept thinking about was how well everything was going. Her hellish world was improving everyday, and soon, it would be gone all together.  
  
She couldn't believe that she was actually going out with Vaughn, in public. She felt so free. She could introduce him to Francie, and have him over to her house. She knew that they couldn't let SD-6 think that they were more than friends, but there were no rules against being close friends. Sydney was already dreaming of all the possibilities. She was practically giddy by the time she left work.  
  
She arrived at home still buzzing with anticipation. She guessed that it showed too because Francie noticed her good spirits almost immediately.  
  
"What's up with you?" Francie asked.  
  
"Nothing. Why?" Sydney replied defensively.  
  
Francie walked over to her and examined her. "You just look really happy." Francie said.  
  
"I am happy." Sydney shot back jokingly.  
  
Francie had a questioning look on her face. "And what exactly has made you so happy?"  
  
Sydney walked past her and headed into her room. "I'm going out tonight." Sydney said nonchalantly, knowing that Francie would want to know all the details. Sydney had been looking forward to a chance to talk with Francie like they used to.  
  
Francie chased after her. "With who?" She asked.  
  
"A guy from work." Sydney said, taking a seat on her bed.  
  
"What's his name? When did you meet him? Are you guys going out?" Francie shot questions at her.  
  
Sydney laughed, happy that she and Francie were being girly. "His name's Michael, and I've known him for about a year, but he just got transferred to my department, so we've gotten closer lately." Sydney replied. "We can't technically be dating though. The bank has these rules." Sydney drifted off, ready for Francie's reply.  
  
"Three words: quit the bank." Francie said. Sydney rolled her eyes. "Syd, really. It's obvious that you like this guy and that he likes you. I haven't seen you this happy since Danny. To be honest, I don't think I ever saw you this happy when you were with Danny. Quit." She said.  
  
Sydney sighed, "Francie, I like my job, I really do. So does Michael. Anyway, it could be fun sneaking around, you know, having a secret." Sydney said this purely for Francie's benefit. She wanted nothing more than to have a real, normal relationship with Vaughn, but she wanted Francie to think that she liked the lies so she'd stop giving her a hard time.  
  
"So how are you too going out tonight?" Francie questioned logically.  
  
"Our boss suggested that since we are going to be working together, we should get to know each other better." Sydney said.  
  
Francie was quiet for a moment. "So tell me, is he hot? He's hot isn't he." France said.  
  
Sydney nodded enthusiastically, "Oh yeah." She felt the heat rising to her face as she thought about him. She hoped that Francie wouldn't notice.  
  
"So when do I get to meet this guy?" Francie asked. This is the question that Sydney had actually been excited to answer now that Vaughn could actually meet Francie.  
  
"Soon. Maybe I'll bring him by the restaurant after dinner." She suggested. Francie smiled at this.  
  
"Syd, this is so great." Francie said. She glanced at her watch. "What time are you going?" She asked.  
  
"Were meeting at Sequoia at eight." Sydney said.  
  
Francie jumped up. "You have to get ready! Why are you still talking to me? Go, get in the shower!"  
  
Sydney smiled and hopped up, walking into the bathroom.  
  
Francie smiled at her and walked out of Sydney's bedroom and into the kitchen. She was rifling through the refrigerator when she heard Will walk in the door.  
  
"Hey." Will said, walking into the kitchen.  
  
Francie straightened up and looked at him. "Hey." She replied. Will walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.  
  
"Where's Syd?" He asked her.  
  
Francie smiled. "She's in the shower getting ready for her date." She replied.  
  
Will almost choked on his water. "What? With who?" He asked.  
  
"Some guy from work." Francie said.  
  
"The picture frame guy?" Will asked. He sat down at the table and waited for Francie's reply.  
  
Francie thought for a moment. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Maybe." She said. She sat down next to Will. "You should have seen her. She looked so happy. She actually started blushing when she was talking about him." Francie gushed.  
  
Will just mumbled something. "Look, I gotta go do some work or something. I'll see you later though." He said. He stood up and walked out. He didn't want to be there to see Sydney all ready for her date. He guessed it was with Vaughn. When he'd met him, he could sense that he had more than professional feelings for Sydney. He didn't know where he was going; he just walked around for a while.  
  
Back at the house, Sydney was almost ready. She was just putting the finishing touches of makeup on when Francie knocked on her door.  
  
"Hey, how are you coming along?" She said as she walked into the room.  
  
"What do you think?" Sydney did a little spin for Francie. She was wearing a black dress that was pretty modest compared to what she wore on missions. It had thin straps that crossed in the back, which was mostly open. The fabric along the neckline pooled low enough to be sexy, but not indecent. The dress came down to about mid-calf and she adorned the outfit with strappy sandals. Her hair was up in a messy bun with tendrils hanging down, framing her face.  
  
"You look great!" Francie told her. "He is going to drop dead at the sight of you."  
  
Sydney smiled. "I better get going." She said. Francie nodded and they walked out of the bedroom.  
  
Sydney got a wrap and draped it over her shoulders. "Bye." Sydney said, walking out the door.  
  
"Have fun!" Francie called. "And bring this guy by the restaurant, I'm dying to meet him!"  
  
Sydney got into her car and started driving towards the restaurant. She'd been there before and liked it. It was a nice restaurant on the water with great atmosphere and she was glad that Vaughn had chosen it.  
  
When she walked into the restaurant it was a little after eight and she scanned the room for Vaughn. She spotted him at a table by the window and started to walk over to him. He saw her walking towards him and stood up to greet her.  
  
He was floored by what he saw. He thought that she looked amazing in France, but she looked even better in her own clothes. He was breathless at the sight of her and he could feel his heart actually start to beat faster. He tried to calm himself as she approached him.  
  
"Wow." He said. "You look absolutely amazing." He said, looking her up and down.  
  
Sydney blushed slightly and said "Thank you. You look good too." She said. And he did. He was wearing black pants that fit him excellently, and a green shirt with a black sports coat. She loved him in green. She missed the leather jacket, but she thought that this look was more appropriate for dinner.  
  
He motioned to the seat across from the one that he had just been sitting in and pulled it out for her. She sat down and he pushed the chair into the table before returning to his seat.  
  
The dinner went great. They were so at ease with each other that anyone watching would have thought that they'd been dating forever. They talked about everything and learned things that they never knew about each other. They talked about their friends, pets, high school, college, movies, books, anything.  
  
They both had coffee after dinner and were exchanging embarrassing drunk stories, something neither of them ever thought they would talk about.  
  
"Okay," Vaughn said, "I've got one." Sydney nodded. "My friend Eric and I were at a bachelor party for one of our friends," he began, and Sydney knew that he was talking about Weiss, " it wasn't a big party, just a bunch of guys together at this bar. So it's getting late and I'm pretty drunk when this woman gets up and walks by our table. Weiss points her out to me and tells me that I should ask for her number when she walks by again. She was kind of older, but I said I'd go for it anyway. So she comes back from the bathroom or whatever and when she walks by our table I grab her hand and really sleazily start to come on to her. Not one of my finest moments." Vaughn commented. "Anyway, all of the sudden she says, 'Michael, is that you?' Turns out, it's one of my mom's friends that's known me since I was a kid. I was totally mortified." Vaughn finished.  
  
"Oh my God." Sydney said, laughing. "That's horrible. Did she tell your mom?"  
  
"No, she was cool about it. She said that she was flattered." Vaughn laughed with her.  
  
"Well, I think you win. That's totally worse than mine." Sydney said.  
  
"I don't know, you and Francie going to your professor's house to sing love songs to him is pretty bad." Vaughn said. "She sounds crazy."  
  
"She is, believe me, but she's my best friend and I love her." Sydney told him.  
  
Vaughn nodded. "I'd love to meet her sometime." He said.  
  
"She actually has a restaurant not too far away if you want to drop in. I'm sure she'd love to meet you too." Sydney said.  
  
"That sounds great." Vaughn replied. He couldn't believe that this was actually happening. He was on a date with Sydney, and he was going to meet one of her friends. It was all so surreal.  
  
The check came and Vaughn took it without hesitation and paid for their meal. They walked out of the restaurant and down the street towards Francie's, talking about the city.  
  
When they got there, Francie was at the bar, lecturing the bar tender about more broken glasses. Sydney and Vaughn walked up behind her and Sydney cleared her throat to get her attention.  
  
Francie whipped around to see who it was. "Hey!" she said when she saw who it was.  
  
"Hi, Francie, this is Michael." Sydney introduced them.  
  
"Hi, nice to meet you." Vaughn said, shaking Francie's hand, "I've heard so much about you."  
  
"You too." Francie looked Vaughn up and down and looked at Sydney and nodded.  
  
Sydney was embarrassed, but tried not to show it.  
  
"Do you guys want something to drink?" Francie offered.  
  
"No, that's okay, we just thought we'd come say hi since we were so close." Sydney answered.  
  
"Alright, well nice meeting you." Francie said.  
  
"You too." Vaughn replied.  
  
"Oh," Francie said before he left, "We're having some friends over on Friday night, just to hang out, dinner, drinking, movies whatever. You should come." Francie said.  
  
"I'd like that, thanks." Vaughn told her, smiling.  
  
"Great." Francie looked smugly at Sydney.  
  
"See you later Francie." Sydney said, practically dragging Vaughn out of the restaurant.  
  
Once they got outside, Sydney said "Sorry, she can be a little overwhelming sometimes."  
  
"No problem, she seems nice." Vaughn reassured her.  
  
"Well, we are having some friends over on Friday if you want to come. It's just going to be me, Francie, my friend Will and his sister. I'm sure Will would like to have another guy there." Sydney offered.  
  
"That sounds great." Vaughn looked at her and smiled. They walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes until they were at the parking lot where they had parked.  
  
They stopped and Sydney looked up at Vaughn, desperately wanting to end this like a real date and kiss him. But she knew that they were just supposed to look like friends, so she resisted. "Well, thanks for dinner, I had a really good time." Sydney said.  
  
"Me too. I'm glad that we did this, now I feel like I really know you." Vaughn said. It sounded like a normal enough statement, but Sydney knew that there was deeper meaning behind it. Before tonight, they'd rarely spoken of anything besides work, and now he knew so much more about her.  
  
Sydney smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow then." She said  
  
Vaughn nodded. He watched as Sydney walked to her car and got in before going to his own car.  
  
Both Sydney and Vaughn were extremely pleased with the night. Their only regret was that they had to act like strangers. They had wanted to kiss so badly, but they never knew who was watching. They only saving grace getting them through it was that they'd be able to be with each other soon.  
  
A/N: Okay, another long chapter. I hoped you liked it. I realized that there hadn't been any S/V action in forever. Don't worry, there's going to be TONS in the next chapter. I'll try to post it soon. Please R&R! 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

TITLE: Past  
  
AUTHOR: Carrie  
  
DISTRIBUTION: Anywhere just let me know so I can visit  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alias or any of the characters that appear on the show.  
  
NOTE: Thanks soooo much for all the reviews!! They really keep me going. Sorry about the long delay between chapters, but midterms suck ass!!! Hope you like this chapter!! Keep Reviewing!!  
  
CHAPTER SIXTEEN  
  
The week went excruciatingly slowly, at least in Vaughn's opinion. He couldn't wait until Friday. He was going to be in Sydney's house. With her friends. With her. It had been torture not being able to kiss her or hug her or even hold her hand when they went out. Hopefully, they could have some private time on Friday.  
  
All week long, they'd been exchanging looks, and it was killing him. Every time he'd catch her eyes he could see the hunger in them which he was sure was reflected in his as well.  
  
On Friday morning, Sloane called Sydney, Vaughn, Jack and Marshall into the conference room. Jack and Marshall sat on one side of the table, Sydney and Vaughn on the other, their legs brushing against each other as they were seated.  
  
"Good morning," Sloane began. "Okay, this is Domenico de Mazzoni." Sloane stated as a picture of a man flashed up on the screen. The man was probably around fifty, with dark eyes and salt and pepper hair. "He lives in a large chateau outside of Genoa, Italy. We've received intel that he may be storing, or even manufacturing weapons, most likely guns, in the sub- basement of the chateau. Your mission is to get into the facility and photograph, possibly retrieve these items. Mazzoni is having a fiftieth birthday ball for his wife this coming Tuesday and Sydney, your name will be on the list. Vaughn, you'll be on comms. I'm informing you early of this mission because I want you to be very prepared, being your first mission and all." Sloane finished. Vaughn nodded. "Marshall." Sloane said, indicating it was his turn.  
  
"Hi everyone. Mr. Vaughn. Nice to have you here." Marshall said, Vaughn smiled and nodded at Marshall. "Right, okay. Well this guy has electronic locks for every door in the house, as well as a surveillance system. You know, guys watching TV screens and stuff. Okay. The locks require key cards, so I made this," Marshall said, holding up a tube of lipstick. "Okay it unrolls a little like so," he said, unrolling the tube, "and becomes..a universal key card." Marshall said, smiling proudly. "Okay this will get you into the surveillance room. Well, it'll get you anywhere, but you need to get into the surveillance room to leave this," he said, holding up a small compact. "It'll allow Mr. Vaughn to hack into the system. You can come into my office, well not really my office kind of just a space or whatever. Well you can come and I'll show you how to do all the computer stuff." Marshall said.  
  
Vaughn nodded. "Thanks." He said. Marshall smiled and continued.  
  
"Once everything is under control with surveillance, Miss. Bristow, you can get into the sub-basement. Once your there, you can either take pictures with this," he held up the camera that she'd seen before, "or if you need to take something with you, this purse, which I think is very stylish right now, I don't know if you do. Anyway, it opens up like so," Marshall demonstrated, "into a large bag that'll still be fashionable, but large enough to hold a weapon." Marshall finished, smiling proudly about all his new tech.  
  
The meeting dispersed and Sydney walked back to her desk, and Vaughn went to go meet Marshall. He had to say that he liked Marshall. The guy was obviously brilliant and he was really good at his job. It saddened Vaughn that he was caught up in all this. Marshall showed him how to hack into the system and replace the picture that the guards saw with one of the blank hallway, while at the same time watching what was actually happening so that he could "Ensure Miss. Bristow's safety." Marshall obviously really liked Sydney. Vaughn left Marshall's office and went back to his desk, doing some research on Genoa for their mission. By the time five o'clock rolled around, he was definitely ready to go. He stopped by Sydney's desk on his way out, where she was packing up to leave as well.  
  
"Hey," He said, "I'm heading out."  
  
"Yeah me too, pretty soon." She replied. "So I'll see you tonight?" she asked, hoping he hadn't changed his mind.  
  
"Definitely." Vaughn said. He smiled at her, letting her know that he wouldn't miss it for the world.  
  
"Great." Sydney replied, her relief evident. "Come over anytime after seven."  
  
"Okay, see you then." Vaughn said, walking away from Sydney's desk.  
  
Sydney watched Vaughn walk away, already buzzing with excitement for tonight. When he was out of sight she began packing up her things, unaware that her father had been watching the whole exchange.  
  
"So what's tonight?" Jack startled her as he approached her desk.  
  
Sydney was surprised, but was too happy to make a comment about his eaves dropping. "I'm just having some friends over and I invited Vaughn. Sloane said that I should get to know him better." Sydney said smugly.  
  
Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "Sydney," he said, not needing to elaborate. The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes said it all.  
  
"Vaughn and I are just friends." She said, "We're going to be working very closely together, and it's important that we're comfortable with each other." Sydney was feeling pretty good. She knew that her father couldn't exactly give her a lecture about CIA protocol in the middle of SD-6, so she just continued packing up her things. "Have a good weekend Dad." She said as she brushed passed him.  
  
Once Sydney arrived home she immediately got to work. She only had a little more than an hour to get everything ready. Ordinarily, she wouldn't really care what the place looked like just for her friends, but this was the first time that Vaughn was going to be in her house and she wanted everything to look nice. Francie arrived home just as Sydney was dragging out the vacuum. Francie stood and laughed at her for a moment before pushing Sydney aside. "Go," she said, "Get ready, I'll do this."  
  
Sydney smiled and dropped the miscellaneous vacuum parts and ran into her room. She had no idea what to wear. She wanted to look casual, but sexy. She didn't want to look like she was trying to impress him, but she wanted him to want her. This was going to be their first real night together away from the eyes of SD-6 or CIA and she was determined to take advantage of it.  
  
Finally, she decided on jeans and a black wrap-around shirt. She put on minimal make up and fluffed up her hair so that it had some body. She checked her watch and saw that it was already seven, people should be arriving any minute now. She looked at herself one last time in the mirror and walked out into the living room. As soon as she entered the area, Will and Amy walked in the front door.  
  
"Hey," he said as he spotted Sydney.  
  
"Hey Will, Amy." She said, walking up to them.  
  
Will looked Sydney up and down. "You look nice." He commented. Sydney smiled. "What's the occasion?" he questioned.  
  
Sydney became flustered at his comment, but hid it well. "Do I need an occasion to look nice?" she shot back. Will was taken aback, was saved by Francie.  
  
"Oh, don't mind her, she's just nervous because her co-worker is coming." Francie said.  
  
"What?" Will asked.  
  
"This guy from work, Michael is coming tonight. He's just been transferred to my department and I thought it would be nice to get to know him better. Plus, I figured you would appreciate having a guy to talk to instead of just chatting with us all night about girl-stuff." Sydney said lamely. She knew that Will was jealous, she just hoped that he would play along, acting like he had never met Vaughn before.  
  
"Yeah, sure." Will said. He walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer, thinking that he was going to need a lot of alcohol to spend an entire evening watching Sydney and Vaughn flirt.  
  
The doorbell rang and Sydney immediately perked up. She walked over to the door and opened it. She was greeted with the sight of Vaughn, in khakis and a blue polo shirt, standing at her door with a bottle of wine.  
  
Vaughn just looked at her, taking it all in. She looked absolutely beautiful. She always looked great, but seeing her in casual clothes just made him want her more. Her jeans were tight, and her shirt showed just enough to make him crave to see more.  
  
She finally spoke first, "Hey," she said.  
  
Vaughn cleared his throat a little, "Hey," he replied.  
  
Sydney then realized that Vaughn was still standing outside and opened the door for him. "Come in."  
  
Vaughn walked in the house and looked around, absorbing everything. It was so strange to be in Sydney's house. But a very good strange. He looked at Sydney, who was watching him intently and handed her the wine. "Here, this is for you." He said.  
  
Sydney smiled and accepted it. "Thank you." She said. She led him into the living room where Francie, Will and Amy were seated.  
  
"Michael, this is my friend Will, and his sister Amy." She said as they shook hands. Vaughn immediately recognized Amy for the bright red hair. "And you remember Francie."  
  
"Of course." Vaughn said, offering her a smile.  
  
Sydney walked into the kitchen to put the wine in the refrigerator. Vaughn followed, unable to be away from her.  
  
"Can I get you something to drink?" Sydney asked him.  
  
Vaughn leaned against the counter, "Sure, a beer would be great." He replied. He watched her move around the kitchen, observing every graceful movement.  
  
Sydney could feel his eyes on her and it made her tingly all over. She carried two beers that she had opened over to him and handed him one. Their fingers brushed during this action and the simple contact caused them to look up and lock eyes. "Thanks." Vaughn said, referring to the beer. Sydney smiled and held up her bottle. Vaughn tapped his against hers and they both took a sip.  
  
"I'm really glad you're here." Sydney said.  
  
"Me too." He agreed. They both smiled and walked over to the living room where Francie and Amy were already engaged in conversation. Will had turned on the TV, but was watching Sydney and Vaughn instead, not very happy with their interactions.  
  
Will was sitting in a chair on one side of the couch, and Amy in the chair on the other, with Francie sitting on the side of the couch closest to Amy. Sydney took a seat next to Francie, and Vaughn sat next to her. Francie immediately turned to Sydney, asking her a question and bringing her into the girls' conversation. Vaughn turned his attention to the TV.  
  
After a while, the girls' conversation had become very involved and Will and Vaughn were very into the game, rooting for opposite sides. Vaughn for the LA Lakers, and Will, coming originally from Texas, rooting for the Dallas Mavericks. There was a lot of shouting coming from their corner of the room. Every time Vaughn would jump up, Sydney would look at him and smile. She loved seeing him so involved with something besides work.  
  
They ordered pizza for dinner and ate it in the same places they were before, as the game was still on. Eventually, the Lakers won and Vaughn and Will shook hands, making amends for the harsh comments made during the game. When things had settled a little, Francie suggested that they play poker. She got out some cards and some poker chips, but everything was out of order and they had about ten half-decks of cards.  
  
"Alright," Francie said. "Grab a deck and start counting." She instructed.  
  
Sydney stood up. "Michael, I never gave you a tour of the apartment." Sydney said. She knew she was being obvious about her intentions, but she had been feeling Vaughn's eyes on her all night and she desperately wanted to be alone with him.  
  
Vaughn smiled and stood as well. Sydney grabbed his had and pulled him into the hallway. They were both feeling a lot looser after a few beers. Sydney dragged him Vaughn behind her, acting like a tour guide. "This," she said, "is the hallway."  
  
"Mmm.very interesting." Vaughn said. He took a few steps and wrapped his arms around Sydney's waist. They took a few more steps together and Sydney placed her hands over Vaughn's.  
  
"And this," she said, her breathing quickening due to the appearance of Vaughn's lips on her neck, "is Francie's room." She said, tilting her head to the side so that Vaughn could have better access.  
  
They stumbled a few more steps, Vaughn's lips moving up to Sydney's ear. "Where's your room?" he whispered into her ear.  
  
"Right..here." she said. Her door was open and she pulled him into the darkened bedroom. He caught on quickly, spun her around and pressed her against the wall, crashing his lips onto hers. They kissed fiercely for several minutes, mouths searching and hands everywhere. Sydney had never felt a desire for someone as intense as this. "God, Vaughn." Sydney moaned as he moved his mouth to her neck again.  
  
"So beautiful." He mumbled and moved his mouth back to hers.  
  
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Vaughn and Sydney flew apart. "Hey guys." Will said, "We've got everything sorted out." He said.  
  
Vaughn was standing about a foot away from Sydney, who was still against the wall. They were both breathing heavily, trying desperately to act normal. Sydney turned her head to look at Will. "Thanks Will, we'll be right there." She said. Will didn't reply, only walked out of the room. Sydney was still too happy to care about Will's moodiness. She turned back to Vaughn and smiled at him. He returned her smile and took a step forward.  
  
"That was really embarrassing." Vaughn said, laughing a little.  
  
Sydney reached out to him and pulled him into her. "I don't care." She said, bringing him down for another kiss. She could feel the smile on his lips. After a moment, they broke apart. "We should probably get out there." Sydney said.  
  
Vaughn began to kiss her neck again. "Probably." He said, continuing to kiss her.  
  
"Poker." She said, not being able to for a full sentence while he was doing that.  
  
"Mmmhmmm." Vaughn mumbled. Finally, he tore himself away and looked into her eyes. He reached out and smoothed out her hair. "Ready?" he asked.  
  
"Not at all." She replied. But she grabbed his had anyway and they walked out into the hallway. She gave his hand one final squeeze before they reached the living room where she released it. Her hand immediately felt empty without his.  
  
As they walked into the living room, everyone looked over at them, clearly knowing what was going on. Both Vaughn and Sydney's faces were flushed, and their clothes were messier than when they left for their 'tour.' Francie shot Sydney a knowing look and Will just stared at them, his icy glare focused mostly on Vaughn.  
  
Sydney and Vaughn just ignored it all and sat down next to each other on the couch, ready for poker.  
  
The game lasted for about an hour, Francie and Amy racking up most of the winnings. Vaughn and Sydney were too distracted finding subtle ways to touch or make eye contact to pay attention to what was going on. Will was just mad in general, which made him play poorly.  
  
At about eleven, Will decided that it was time to go. "Hey, Amy, you ready to go?"  
  
"Sure." She replied, not liking the way her brother was acting all night.  
  
Will and Amy quickly collected their things and said their goodnights before Will ushered his sister out the door. Vaughn and Sydney were left on the couch.  
  
Francie stood up. "I hear some dirty dishes calling my name." She said, exiting the room. She looked at Sydney before leaving, and Sydney gave her a very appreciative look.  
  
Vaughn and Sydney both relaxed against the back of the couch, looking at one another.  
  
Sydney smiled, still not believing that he was actually here. "I'm glad you came tonight." She told him.  
  
He raised his hand and began to move it up and down her arm, leaving trails of fire in their place. "Me too." He replied. He scooted a little closer to her. "I like your friends." He said.  
  
Sydney smiled. "They like you too."  
  
"Except Will." Vaughn said. His tone was serious, but he smiled a little, letting her know that he wasn't mad or anything.  
  
"Will's just jealous because now he's not the only man in my life. He doesn't like it when he can't monopolize my time anymore." Sydney said jokingly. "He'll get over it, and he'll like you. Everyone does." She complimented him.  
  
"We'll see." Vaughn said, continuing to rub his hand on her arm.  
  
"I'm serious. Everyone at.the bank loves you. You managed to charm your way into Sloane's heart, and Dixon likes you, even though your replacing him. And I can tell that Marshall idolizes you." She told him, placing a hand on his thigh.  
  
"Not as much as he worships you." Vaughn said teasingly. Sydney rolled her eyes. "I'm not kidding. That man lives and breaths Sydney Bristow." Vaughn laughed. Sydney leaned in to slap him playfully on the chest. Instead, Vaughn caught her hand and leaned in to capture her lips. Sydney was surprised, but delighted.  
  
The kiss escalated very quickly and soon they were flush against each other. Sydney pulled back, reminding herself that Francie was in the next room. She looked into Vaughn's eyes and saw the intense desire sparkling in the green orbs. She knew that her eyes must look the same way.  
  
"I guess I should probably go." Vaughn said breathlessly.  
  
Sydney smiled. She couldn't believe how winded she was. She could run for miles, and a simple kiss took her breath away. "Probably." She agreed.  
  
Vaughn dragged himself off of the couch and to his feet. Sydney mimicked his actions. They walked to the front door.  
  
"Thanks again." Vaughn said, trying to stall. He didn't want to leave yet.  
  
"I'll see you on Monday." Sydney said, her thoughts the same as Vaughn's.  
  
They just looked at each other until finally, Vaughn broke their stare and reached for the door handle. He pulled it partially open and turned around. "Bye." He said.  
  
Sydney leaned it quickly and kissed him deeply. She pulled back and he looked completely frazzled. She knew it was mean, but she wanted to give him something to remember her by for the rest of the weekend. "Bye." She said.  
  
Vaughn opened the door completely and walked out, shaking his head and chuckling slightly.  
  
Sydney watched Vaughn for a moment before closing the door. She leaned up against it and sighed.  
  
"You've got it bad." Francie said as she came up to Sydney. She put her hands on her hips and waited for Sydney's response.  
  
Sydney didn't even bother to deny it. "I know." She said. She smiled widely and pushed herself away from the door. "So." Sydney said, waiting for Francie to judge him.  
  
Francie gave her a long look before responding. "He's great Sydney." She replied honestly. "He really is. I think this is just the thing you've been waiting for."  
  
Sydney smiled and walked towards her room. "I know." She said. "Good night Francie." Sydney called out.  
  
"'Night Syd." Francie responded.  
  
Sydney walked into her room, thinking about her night with Vaughn. It had been perfect. She wished they'd been able to be alone a little more, but it didn't matter. It was so amazing being with him with her friends. She'd wanted to incorporate him into her real life for so long and she felt like everything was really coming together. Soon SD-6 would be gone, and there would be nothing at all between them.  
  
  
  
A/N: I'm so sorry.I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated! Please don't hate me!!! I hope you liked this chapter, I enjoyed writing it. Please review!! 


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